COVID-19

AND
E-COMMERCE
A GLOBAL REVIEW
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eTrade for all 3

 NOTES

Within the UNCTAD Division on Technology and Logistics, the ICT Policy Section carries out policy-oriented
analytical work on the development implications of e-commerce and the digital economy. It is responsible for
the preparation of the Digital Economy Report as well as thematic studies on ICT for Development. It promotes
international dialogue on related issues and contributes to building the capacities of developing countries to
harness the evolving digital economy.

The Section also coordinates the eTrade for all initiative (etradeforall.org), which is a collective effort to raise
awareness and enhance synergies among development partners to strengthen the ability of developing countries
to engage in and benefit from e-commerce and the digital economy. Gathering 32 partners, it acts as a global-
helpdesk and as a catalyst of partnership. Its two main spin-offs are: 1) the eTrade Readiness Assessments that
provide national basic diagnostics of the current e-commerce situation in a country, identify opportunities and
challenges and provides policy recommendations; 2) the eTrade Women Initiative to empower women digital
entrepreneurs in developing countries.

eTrade for all partners are also key contributors to the UNCTAD’s eCommerce Weeks, the leading global and
regional platforms to discuss the digital transformation associated with e-commerce and the digital economy.

Reference to companies and their activities should not be construed as an endorsement by UNCTAD of those
companies or their activities.

The following symbols have been used in the tables:

Two dots (..) indicate that data are not available or are not separately reported. Rows in tables have been omitted
in those cases where no data are available for any of the elements in the row;

A dash (-) indicates that the item is equal to zero or its value is negligible;

Reference to “dollars” ($) means United States of America dollars, unless otherwise indicated;

Details and percentages in tables do not necessarily add up to the totals because of rounding. 

4 A GLOBAL REVIEW
PREFACE

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformations. Digital solutions are increasingly needed
to continue some of the economic and social activities remotely. They have been critical for telemedicine,
telework and online education, not least to keep alive our social ties in times of physical distancing. We have
also witnessed e-commerce growth in developing countries, with long-term implications. However, unless
adequately addressed, existing digital divides are likely to result in even greater inequalities.

Against this background, a group of eTrade for all partners joined forces in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak,
with the aim of jointly assessing how the impact of the pandemic was playing out in various regions of the
world, what barriers countries and business were facing when trying to leverage digital solutions; what policy
responses had been taken; and – not least important – what we could do better to reap synergies and enhance
global support to those countries that are the least equipped to manage digital transformation for dealing with
the pandemic and beyond.

This study on the impact of COVID-19 on e-commerce and digital trade is a collective effort, and the first
research-oriented project undertaken under the eTrade for all umbrella. The work has been led by the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the United Nations Regional Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean, drawing also on regional reports prepared by the United Nations Economic Commission of
Africa, the United Nations Commission of Europe and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Western Asia. Valuable inputs and comments were also received from e-Residency of Estonia, the International
Trade Centre, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the Universal
Postal Union.

The critical global policy challenge that emerges from this study is that greater efforts are needed to help reduce
inequalities in e-trade readiness that currently prevail amongst countries. All stakeholders – governments,
businesses, consumers and international development partners – have a responsibility to ensure that
e-commerce plays a positive and powerful role in national and international recovery efforts. Resources should
be committed to that goal.

The pandemic has also demonstrated the importance of ensuring consistency and avoiding duplication in
international efforts. Over the past four years, the eTrade for all has shown the potential for collaboration to add
value, especially in LDCs. The initiative will continue to play its part by advocating relevant policy approaches,
supporting assessments of national e-commerce environments, and fostering collaborations between national
and international stakeholders to maximize the synergies that can contribute to enabling e-commerce for
development.

Shamika N. Sirimanne
Director
Division on Technology and Logistics
UNCTAD

eTrade for all 5

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project was prepared by a team led jointly by Torbjörn Fredriksson and Sabrina Ielmoli (UNCTAD) and
Nanno Mulder (UNECLAC), comprising Alejandro Patino (UNECLAC), Jamie Alexander Macleod (UNECA), Ayman
Elsherbiny and Rita Wehbe (UNESCWA), Maria Rosaria Ceccarelli and Khan Salehin (UNECE), and James Howe
(ITC) and Mari Luist (e-Residency of Estonia).

The working group also included and benefitted from inputs by Mia Mikic and Tengfei Wang (UNESCAP), Paul
Donohoe and Alexander Then-Svanberg (UPU).

David Souter and Anri Van der Spuy were lead consultants for this report.

Guy Futy was lead consultant for the regional report from UNECA.

Deepali Fernandes was lead consultant for the regional report from UNECE.

Bernardo Díaz de Astarloa was lead consultant for the regional report from UNECLAC.

Ahmed Sobky was lead consultant for the regional report from UNESCWA.

The project team would also like to acknowledge the additional comments made to the global report by Cécile
Barayre, Alessandro Vitale, Iris Macculi, Martine Julsaint-Kidane and Jan Hoffmann from UNCTAD .

Desktop publishing and the cover were prepared by Natalia Stepanova. The document was edited by Nancy
Biersteker.

Financial support from the Government of Estonia and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung is gratefully acknowledged.

6 A GLOBAL REVIEW
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NOTES............................................................................................................................. 4
PREFACE.......................................................................................................................... 5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT................................................................................................... 6

1 INTRODUCTION

The impact of the pandemic........................................................................................................................... 11

The pandemic and e-commerce.........................................................................................................11
E-commerce and development.................................................................................................12
UNCTAD and the eTrade for all initiative..................................................................................14
NOTES........................................................................................................................ 15

2 GLOBAL AND REGIONAL TRENDS

The evidence base..................................................................................................................................20

Part 1 – Global and national economic and trade trends ....................................................23
Part 2 – Trends in e-commerce.................................................................................................33
Part 3 – Regional trends before and during the pandemic .................................................44
NOTES ....................................................................................................................... 51

3 CHALLENGES, RESPONSES AND STRATEGIES FOR RECOVERY

Section A E-commerce readiness assessment and strategy formulation.................................65

Section B ICT Infrastructure and services........................................................................................70
Section C Payments...............................................................................................................................77
Section D Trade logistics.......................................................................................................................84
Section E Legal and regulatory frameworks....................................................................................93
Section F Skills development................................................................................................................98
SECTION G Financing for e-commerce................................................................................................102
SECTION H Empowering women in e-commerce.............................................................................107
NOTES................................................................................................................112

4 THE WAY FORWARD: LEVERAGING ETRADE FOR ALL

Main findings...............................................................................................................................................124
The eTrade For All Initiative................................................................................................................ 126
Responding to policy challenges: main recommendations........................................................ 128
Goals and policy recommendations................................................................................................. 134
NOTES................................................................................................................136

REFERENCES............................................................................................................137
1

Introduction

8 A GLOBAL REVIEW
 Main
Messages

The digital economy and e-commerce play a growing role in efforts to achieve the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), bringing both new opportunities and new
challenges. Countries that harness the potential of e-commerce will be better placed to
benefit from global markets for their goods and services in this digitalizing economy,
while those that fail to do so risk falling behind.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated global economic development during 2020.
Restrictions on movement and other interventions to protect public health have
reduced economic activity in most sectors and most countries, affecting production,
distribution and consumption, with greater impact in countries that were less well-
prepared to deal with crisis.

The pandemic caused a sharp deceleration in economic activity for which economies
were largely unprepared. One impact within this, however, has been an uptake in
e-commerce resulting from the need for much activity to move online. It seems likely
that the accelerated trend towards e-commerce seen during the pandemic will be
sustained during recovery.

The eTrade for all initiative, established in 2016, which aims to address knowledge
gaps regarding e-commerce and foster synergies among the partners, is more
needed than ever in efforts to recover from the pandemic. Since the outbreak of
the pandemic, UNCTAD and its 32 eTrade for all partners have played an important
role in raising awareness of the opportunities and risks for e-commerce that have
emerged during the crisis and have worked together to improve understanding of
the challenges faced by e-commerce businesses in developing and least developing
countries (LDCs). This has reinforced the growing importance of e-commerce and the
need for action, supported by international development partners, to build upon it.

eTrade for all 9

 T
he digital economy and e-commerce play a growing role in efforts
to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), bringing
both new opportunities and new challenges to bear. As UNCTAD’s
Information/Digital Economy Reports and other international studies have
shown1, future economic prosperity in all countries will depend substantially
on the facilitation and exploitation of these digital developments2 .

The last decade has seen accelerating transition towards a digital economy
in which information and communications technologies (ICTs) play a growing
part in the production, consumption and exchange of the majority of goods
and services 3. Estimates of the size of the digital economy vary considerably,
ranging from 4.5 to 15.5 per cent of world GDP4 , because of differences in
definition and challenges of measurement, while the share of digitally delivered
services in total exports of services has risen from 45 per cent to 52 per cent
between 2005 and 20195. This transition has been unevenly spread, however,
more rapid and more extensive in developed countries and high-income
developing countries than elsewhere.

E-commerce has great potential for diversifying the scope and geographic
reach of trading opportunities for developing countries and expanding
the range of both established businesses and new enterprises. It also plays
an increasingly important role in the supply and distribution of both goods
and services in domestic markets.6 The growth of e-commerce is inhibited,
however, in many developing countries by a range of barriers in infrastructure,
finance, resources and governance. Countries that overcome these barriers
and establish enabling frameworks for e-commerce will be better placed to
leverage its potential benefits and address challenges, both domestically
and internationally, while those that fail to do so risk becoming less dynamic
at home and less competitive abroad.7 In the absence of measures to take
advantage of e-commerce, there is a risk that digital innovations will increase
inequality rather than advancing equity.

10 A GLOBAL REVIEW
THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated global commitment by both governments and business.
economic development during 2020. Restrictions
Various regions and countries have been affected
on movement and other interventions to protect
differently by COVID-19, depending on timing and
public health have reduced economic activity in most
severity,14 while the pandemic’s future trajectory and
sectors and most countries, affecting production,
impact on economic growth, employment and social
distribution and consumption.8 The global economy
welfare are unpredictable. Some countries, notably
is predicted to shrink by at least four per cent over the
in the Asia-Pacific region, have seen relatively low
year, rather than growing by four per cent or more
infection rates in recent months that have enabled
as previously anticipated.9 Global trade in goods fell
more rapid restoration of pre-pandemic levels of
by almost 18 per cent in May 2020 (compared with
economic activity than others,15 notably in Europe
the same month in 2019).10 Developing countries and
and the Americas, which were suffering a second
LDCs – and their citizens – are particularly vulnerable
wave of COVID-19 infections by late 2020. Small
to recessions in global economic activity.11
island states in the Caribbean have seen high rates
The pandemic and its associated economic of infection while those in the Pacific had been largely
downturns struck at a time of changing economic spared at time of writing.16 These different intensities
circumstances and increasing economic challenge. 12
and timings of infection have had, and will continue
Global GDP had been growing at an average of just to have, a significant bearing on economic outcomes.
over 3.5 per cent each year during the previous
The United Nations and many governments have
decade, but recovery from the crisis of 2008/9 has
made clear their determination that recovery from
been sluggish in developed countries, limiting growth
the pandemic should reach beyond restoration of the
in global demand.13 Uncertainties concerning future
status quo before the crisis. Rather, in the words of
trade relationships among major economies have
the Secretary-General, the international community
come to the fore. Long-term challenges, including
should ‘turn the recovery into a real opportunity to
climate change, require large-scale adjustments in
do things right for the future’.17
production and consumption where achievement
will depend on international cooperation and

THE PANDEMIC AND E-COMMERCE

The pandemic caused a sharp deceleration in multilateral agencies, and research undertaken by
economic activity for which economies were largely United Nations Regional Commissions. In addition to
unprepared. One impact within that overall reduction this introduction, it includes three chapters:
of activity, however, which has significance both
CHAPTER 2 summarizes global and regional trends
during the pandemic and for subsequent recovery,
that can be identified to date.
has been an uptake in e-commerce resulting from
the need for much activity to move online. CHAPTER 3 considers principal challenges arising
from these and the pandemic; policy responses to
This report makes a preliminary assessment of the
them by governments, businesses and international
impact of the COVID-19 crisis on e-commerce, drawing
development partners; and means by which
on the limited range of data currently available.18 It
governments and other stakeholders can strengthen
includes surveys of e-commerce businesses and
capacity, resilience and recovery from the pandemic.
consumers conducted by UNCTAD and its partners
This chapter includes separate sections addressing
in the eTrade for all initiative, analyses by other
eight critical challenges requiring such responses.

eTrade for all 11

 CHAPTER 4 charts a way forward and offers recom-
mendations to different stakeholder communities.
The report summarizes what we know to date,
outlines what this indicates for policymakers in
diverse stakeholder communities and reflects
on approaches to e-commerce that can support
global and national economic recovery when the
pandemic eventually recedes. Its conclusion, and
those of associated regional reports published
by the Regional Commissions,19 are necessarily
provisional but intended to stimulate discussion
and the deployment of appropriate policy initiatives,
particularly in developing countries and LDCs.

E-COMMERCE AND DEVELOPMENT

UNCTAD adopts a broad definition of the digital instance for e-commerce), which can be described as
economy with three main elements, illustrated experiencing digitalization.20 The growing prevalence
in Figure 1.1: its underlying technologies and of digitalization makes it increasingly difficult to
infrastructures, the ICT and digital sectors distinguish this digital economy from economic
themselves, and the wider range of sectors in which activity in general, and therefore difficult to quantify.
digital products and services are in growing use (for

Figure 1.1
A representation of the digital economy 21

• rapid growth in data gathering and

Growth in the digital economy has been driven by transmission,
four main factors:
• the accelerating pace of digital innovation • the emergence of platforms that facilitate
innovation and/or intermediate in online
• increased online participation, markets.

12 A GLOBAL REVIEW
The proportion of individuals worldwide engaging
with the Internet is estimated to have risen from 29.3
per cent in 2010 to 53.6 per cent in 2019. 22
Global
Internet Protocol (IP) traffic, a proxy for data flows,
grew from about 100 gigabytes per second in 2002 to
some 88,000 gigabytes per second in early 2020. As
the pandemic spread during the year, with increased
traffic generated by teleworking, videoconferencing,
digital entertainment and other applications, this
figure is now estimated to exceed 100,000 gigabytes
per second.23
E-commerce lies at the heart of the digital
economy, defined by the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) as ‘the
sale or purchase of goods or services, conducted
over computer networks by methods specifically
designed for the purpose of receiving or placing of
orders.’ Goods and services are ordered over these
24
networks, while payment and delivery may be online
or offline. This represents a complex and growing
range of economic activity. It includes, for instance:
• transactions between businesses (B2B), those
between businesses and individual consumers
(B2C), and those between governments,
businesses and citizens (G2B, G2C);
• the direct provision of services that can be traded
digitally, as well as the facilitation of ongoing and
additional trade in goods;
The increasing significance and rapid growth of
e-commerce in global economic activity are clear,
regardless of definitional variations between
different analysts. Its share of global retail trade is
estimated by eMarketer to have risen from 10.4 per
cent in 2017 to 14.1 per cent in 2019.26 Southeast
Asia’s e-commerce sector is estimated to have grown
six-fold between 2015 and 2019, reaching US$ 38
billion in value, and is expected to be worth US$ 150
billion by 2025.27
E-commerce is increasingly understood by
governments and development partners28 to provide
new ways of facilitating the SDGs set out in the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.29 Innovations
in technology and the modalities of commerce are
creating opportunities for companies of all sizes to
engage in domestic and international trade through
the adaptation of supply chains, lower trade costs
and extended market reach.
By reducing transaction and search costs as well as
frictions at commercial interfaces, digital platforms –
those of individual sellers and third-party platforms
such as Amazon and Alibaba – enable those offering
goods or services to connect more easily with
(potential) consumers and to expand the volume of
commercial interactions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered trade patterns
substantially, at least in the short term.

• international commerce, between continents
and across land borders, as well as domestic
transactions, both wholesale and retail;
• transactions undertaken through
platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba, through
regional intermediaries such as Jumia in Africa,
Lazada in Southeast Asia and Mercado Libre
in Latin America, through wholesalers’ and
retailers’ own online domains, and through small
transactions between MSMEs and individual
consumers.
It intersects with other aspects of the digital and
analogue economies in complex ways and relies
on both physical infrastructure and enabling
frameworks of policy, business practice and consumer
confidence.25
It has reduced the volume and shifted
the balance of international trade,
disrupting traditional supply chains and
putting additional pressure on
global
transport, logistics and border controls.
It has encouraged the growth of online
shopping and services in domestic
markets where movement controls and
consumer anxiety have discouraged
physical transactions. These trends are
explored in CHAPTER 2.
It seems likely, though this is yet
uncertain, that the accelerated trend
towards e-commerce seen during the
pandemic will be sustained during
recovery. Lessons learned from it
should therefore be important for future economic
growth and for development. These are explored in
CHAPTER 3.

eTrade for all 13

 UNCTAD AND THE ETRADE FOR ALL INITIATIVE

UNCTAD’s role is to maximize the trade, investment divides and spurring sustainable development.
and development opportunities of developing Partners in eTrade for all have also contributed to 27
countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate UNCTAD eTrade Readiness Assessments.
into the world economy on an equitable basis. Since
The scope and impact of e-commerce reach across
2016 it has focused extensively on the opportunities
the range of economic activity. The eTrade for all
and challenges of the digital economy, by providing
initiative has identified seven policy areas that are
global platforms for dialogue, offering specialist
crucial to enabling countries, particularly developing
advice to governments and other stakeholders, and
countries and LDCs, to engage in and benefit more
through its series of Information/Digital Economy
fully from the growth of online business activity:
Reports.

UNCTAD’s analysis, drawn from that experience, has

shown that countries that harness the potential of
E-commerce readiness assessments
e-commerce will be better placed to benefit from and strategy formulation
global markets for their goods and services in this
digitalizing economy, while those that fail to do so
risk falling behind.31
ICT infrastructure and services

In 2016, UNCTAD and fourteen global partners

established the eTrade for all initiative to address
knowledge gaps regarding e-commerce and
Trade logistics and trade facilitation
foster synergies between development partners,
governments and business stakeholders, with
the aim of improving capacity to benefit from it,
particularly in developing countries and LDCs. Payment solutions

The initiative emphasizes evidence-based policy

development, sustainability and rigorous monitoring
and evaluation, and has recently developed a special
Legal and regulatory frameworks
focus on the empowerment of women digital
entrepreneurs. With the active involvement of some
thirty partner agencies, it has raised awareness of the
potential of e-commerce and, through its eTrade for E-commerce skills development
all platform, of opportunities and resources available
for policy development and practical governance. The
platform builds bridges between countries in need of
Access to financing for e-commerce
technical assistance and the partners able to assist
them, with the overarching goal of narrowing digital

14 A GLOBAL REVIEW
NOTES
1 For example, UNCTAD, 2019b.

2 WEF, 2020b; ITU, 2020c; ECLAC, 2020c; UNIDO, 2020.

3 For example, UN SG, 2019b.

4 UNCTAD, 2020j; World Bank, 2020g.

5 See: UNCTADStat database: https://unctadstat.unctad.org/wds/ReportFolders/reportFolders.aspx

6 For example, WTO, 2020b.

7 See: WEF, 2020d.

8 IMF, 2020c.

9 Estimates vary. UNCTAD (2020j) suggests 4.3 per cent. World Bank (2020f) (using market exchange rate
weightings), 5.2 per cent, while IMF (2020a) previously predicted growth of 4.4 percent.

10 See: CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis’ World Trade Monitor: https://www.cpb.nl/en/
worldtrademonitor

11 For example, UNCDF, 2020a; WTO, 2020g

12 UNCTAD, 2020j; ECLAC, 2020c.

13 See: https://www.statista.com/statistics/273951/growth-of-the-global-gross-domestic-product-gdp/. See

also, for example, Chen, Mrkaic and Nabar, 2019; ECLAC, 2020a; UNCTAD, 2020h.

14 IMF, 2020c.

15 See: ESCAP, 2020g, 2020h.

16 Shridath Ramphal Centre, 2020

17 UN, 2020a.

18 See: Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities, 2020.

19 UNECA, 2021; UNECE, 2021; ECLAC, 2021; ESCWA, 2021.

20 UNCTAD, 2019b.

21 Ibid.

22 ITU, 2019b.

23 See: discussion in UNCTAD, 2019b.

24 OECD, 2020b.

25 See: Dutta and Lanvin, 2020; World Bank, 2020h.

26 Lipsman, 2019.

27 Nortajuddin, 2020.

28 For example, World Bank, 2020i.

29 UN GA, 2015.

30 See: https://unctad.org/publications.

31 UNCTAD, 2019h.

32 See: https://etradeforall.org/about/partners/ for a list of partners.

33 See: https://unctad.org/official-documents-search?f[0]=product%3A603 for these assessments.

eTrade for all 15

16 A GLOBAL REVIEW
2

GLOBAL AND
REGIONAL
TRENDS

eTrade for all 17

 Main
Messages

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of addressing barriers to

e-commerce in order to leverage the benefits that can be derived from it and cope
with the potential downsides of digital transformation.

While there has been a substantial reduction in overall economic activity during the
pandemic, the crisis has seen growth in the market share of trade and retail taken
by e-commerce, particularly in domestic markets where movement restrictions and
consumer anxieties about social interaction have encouraged use of online shopping.
As well as goods, substantial increases have been seen in online conferencing, gaming
and entertainment. More people, in short, have been using electronic commerce
more often. Businesses with an established online presence have been better
equipped to take advantage of this, along with traditional businesses that have been
sufficiently agile and had sufficient resources to upgrade their online marketing and
sales. Communications networks have largely held up during the pandemic, but
there have been considerable difficulties related to trade and transport logistics,
especially for international transactions.

The extent to which trends experienced during the crisis will continue during
recovery is uncertain and will depend, inter alia, on the pace of recovery and the
nature and extent of measures taken to facilitate it. Many consumers expect to
continue spending more online after the crisis than they did before. Experience of
online entertainment services (and the fact that more people have crossed entry
barriers) is likely to sustain higher usage levels where they are concerned. Many
employers are considering blending office and homeworking. E-commerce platforms
are therefore likely to retain many, though perhaps not all, of the gains in market
share that they have made during the pandemic vis-à-vis offline markets.

The level of participation in digital technology and the Internet is a powerful

indicator of an economy’s capacity to leverage e-commerce. The ability of businesses
to participate in international markets depends increasingly on the quality of
digital connectivity available to them, while that of citizens to shop online or use
online commercial services depends on the availability of reliable (and preferably
broadband) communications networks, the affordability of suitable hardware and
data packages, the existence of relevant online platforms and services, the presence
of attractive digital payment mechanisms, and individuals’ own capabilities and
digital literacy. Policies can be put in place to bridge barriers and build trust and
confidence in online business.

18 A GLOBAL REVIEW
T
his chapter considers trends in global and regional economies, and in
the digital economy, both before and during the pandemic. The first part
considers global trends in the economy, trade and digitalization that
establish the context against which experience during the coronavirus crisis
should be judged. The second part summarizes current evidence concerning
that experience in international and domestic e-commerce, with illustrations
drawn from different regions. A final summary considers the experience of
different regions and the special circumstances of Least Developed Countries
(LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

eTrade for all 19

 THE EVIDENCE BASE

Although e-commerce is inherently data-driven,34 Understanding the trajectory of e-commerce is

there are significant challenges involved in gathering vital for appropriate policymaking on the part of
and analysing relevant data concerning both governments and business planning by commercial
preparedness (or e-readiness) and experience of enterprises. UNCTAD has developed guidelines,
e-commerce. Digitalization is largely invisible in published in the 2020 revision of its Manual for the
statistics on trade and GDP. Production of Statistics on the Digital Economy,38 to
improve the quantity and quality of e-commerce
Relatively few countries have gathered or currently
data sets. The Manual provides definitions and
gather data dealing explicitly with e-commerce with
classifications, as well as model questionnaires that
the level of detail that is desirable for policymaking.
can help national statistical offices to collect statistics
More countries collect data on B2C e-commerce than
in a manner that allows for international comparison.
B2B, while more data are available for developed
than developing countries; there is a significant time Problems for policymakers arising from data
lag in reporting. limitations have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
The brief time period since the global spread of
Where data have been gathered, definitions
coronavirus starting in the first quarter of 2020
have also sometimes varied between national
means that only partial, limited data are available for
statistical systems.35 As noted in CHAPTER 1,
the pandemic period, with the most substantive data
the digital economy includes both the ICT/digital
concentrated in the early months and in a limited
sector and sectors that are partly or largely
range of developed and higher income developing
digitalized, the distribution of goods and services,
countries. Data concerning LDCs are particularly
as well as international and domestic transactions.
limited. The timing and trajectory of the pandemic
Interconnections between these are complex and
have also varied significantly between regions
standard methods of gathering and analysing data
and countries, making it more difficult to compare
on them have not been generally defined or, when
experiences. This challenge is exacerbated by the
defined, adopted. Ideally, the measurement of value
second wave of infections that has occurred in some
in the digital economy should cover all three levels
regions during the latter half of 2020, which has led
illustrated in Figure 1.1 – the digital sector, the digital
to a second round of movement restrictions that
economy and the digitalized economy. In practice,
constrain much economic activity. Comparative
however, as noted in UNCTAD’s 2019 Digital Economy
infection rates over time are illustrated in Figure 2.2.
Report, ‘comparable statistical data are available
mainly for just the core digital sector, and even in Possible future waves, of uncertain severity, can
this case there are significant gaps, particularly be anticipated, their impact depending partly on
concerning developing countries. The lack of progress concerning vaccines and therapeutic
statistical data and other measurement difficulties medicines.
increase as the analysis moves from the core to the
broad scope of the digital economy’.36

Some global figures are available to set the scene.

Before COVID-19, eMarketer forecast that global
retail would expand by 4.4 per cent, to US$ 26,460
trillion during 2020, with e-commerce growing by
18.4 per cent to US$ 4,105, 15.5 per cent of the total
retail value. In light of the pandemic, it has reduced
these estimates of retail growth by ten and two per
cent respectively, with e-commerce thereby taking a
higher share in total retail.37

20 A GLOBAL REVIEW
Figure 2.1
Daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19, selected countries, February to November 202042
As one commentator has put it, there is ‘no dearth
of back-of-the-envelope analysis’ of COVID-19’s
impact’, 43
but speculation is inadequate for effective
policymaking and business planning in a crisis
that requires frequent refreshing of data to reflect
developments in infections and impacts. Poor data
and poor data analysis could lead to inappropriate
policy responses.
This report is based on data and other evidence
available at its time of writing (November 2020).
It takes provisional stock of what has happened during
the crisis up to that time from this limited evidence
base and, so far as possible, identifies broad trends
that suggest appropriate directions for policy and
practice. Projections towards longer timescales are
necessarily tentative, particularly given the uncertain
trajectory of the pandemic beyond November 2020.
Close and careful monitoring of relevant data will be
crucial for effective interventions.
eTrade for all 21
 BOX 2.1 THE B2C E-COMMERCE INDEX
UNCTAD publishes an annual B2C e-commerce index 39 that measures the preparedness of economies
to support online shopping. This is derived from four indicators: the proportion of individuals using the
Internet, the number of secure Internet servers per million people, the proportion of adults with a bank
or mobile money account, and the Universal Postal Union (UPU)’s Postal Reliability Index.40

The 2020 index, which included 152 economies, showed substantial discrepancies between countries
with high and low levels of readiness and participation in e-commerce that are broadly consistent with
geographic and developmental characteristics. These are illustrated in Figure 2.1.41 Eight of the ten
economies with the highest index scores are in Western Europe, the other two are high-income economies
in Asia-Pacific (Singapore and China, Hong Kong SAR). All ten of the leading developing economies within
the index are in Asia-Pacific, while eighteen of the twenty lowest-scoring countries are LDCs.

Figure 2.2
B2C e-commerce scores by region, 2020

22 A GLOBAL REVIEW
PART 1 –
GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC
AND TRADE TRENDS

eTrade for all 23

 A
Global and national economies

a. Before the pandemic

The global economy was badly hit by the financial
crisis of 2007/2008, the most severe shock it had
experienced in more than seventy years. The crisis
triggered a substantial downturn in international
trade and required a write-down of over US$ 2
trillion from financial institutions alone.44 Lost growth
resulting from that crisis and ensuing recessions in
many countries has been estimated at over US$ 10
trillion (over one-sixth of global GDP in 2008). The
year 2009 was the first in recent times in which global
GDP contracted in real terms,45 an outcome that is
now sure to be repeated in 2020.
Global economic recovery was relatively sluggish
between 2009 and 2019, with slower than expected
growth in developed countries constraining demand
for developing country commodities and produce.
Many effects of the financial crisis remained active
concerns when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in
early 2020. As a result, the global economy was less
resilient to the pandemic than it might otherwise
have been.
Nevertheless, the global economy was growing at
the start of the current crisis. Global GDP grew by
an average of 2.85 per cent between 2015 and 2019,
in the five years leading up to 2020, slowing to 2.3
per cent in the last of these years, its slowest rate of
growth since the financial crisis. Rates of growth have
varied between and within regions, with stronger
outcomes in Asia Pacific46 than Europe, and for
developing countries more than developed countries.
UN data show growth of 1.7 per cent for developed
countries in 2019, immediately before the pandemic,
compared with 3.4 per cent for developing counties
and 4.9 per cent for LDCs.47 African economies, many
of which are LDCs, were still expected, at the turn of
the year, to grow by around four per cent per annum
in 2020 and 2021.48
When dealing with e-commerce, it is important to
consider economic circumstances not just in terms
of national policies and outcomes but also those of
businesses and individuals, particularly in relation to
incomes, poverty and inequality. Countries with high
proportions of citizens living at or below the poverty
line are likely to have skewed domestic markets
in which demand for many goods and services
is concentrated high up the income distribution.
Although global poverty rates have fallen by more
than half this century, one in ten people in developing
countries still lives below the internationally agreed
poverty line of US$ 1.90 per day; some two-fifths of
these are in Sub-Saharan Africa.49 Poorer households
are less likely to be able to afford non-essential goods
and less resilient to the impact of crises such as the
pandemic.
High proportions of adults in many developing
countries work in the informal economy, often
without savings to rely on if normal income sources
become unavailable.50 An increasing number of
workers in developed countries also rely on insecure
employment with zero-hours contracts or in the
so-called ‘gig economy’.51 These groups are highly
dependent on day-to-day income generation, which
makes them particularly susceptible to lockdowns
and movement restrictions, especially when they
(and their dependents) have no access to welfare
safety nets. Social protection systems that can best
support workers when they are between jobs or not
working regularly are available to less than half the
global population.52

24 A GLOBAL REVIEW
b. The impact of the pandemic

The impact of the pandemic on the global economy
is expected to be more severe than that of the
2008/9 financial crisis. As noted in CHAPTER 1,
forecasts that growth in global GDP would rise by
more than 4 per cent in 2020 have been replaced by
projections that it will fall by a similar proportion or
more. UNCTAD, for instance, projects a fall in global
GDP of 4.3 per cent during 2020. The World Bank has
warned that the recession in advanced economies,
where output fell sharply during the early phases
of pandemic, is hitting developing countries’ export
earnings, and projected negative growth for over
150 countries during 2020 as early as June, before
the second wave of infections hit many European
countries.

The scale of these impacts will vary between regions because of different infection rates.

The United Kingdom’s Office for Budget

Responsibility – the government’s
independent advisory body for economic
forecasting – anticipates a fall of 11.3 per cent
in national GDP during 2020 in a country that
has experienced high levels of infection.57

Economic activity
in Latin America
and the Caribbean,
as suggested in the
ECLAC report, may fall
by 9.1 per cent in 2020,
taking the region’s
GDP per capita back
to its 2010 level, with
both poverty and
unemployment rising Africa’s projected growth of 3.9 per
sharply.55 cent for 2020 has been replaced by
a projected contraction of 3.3 per In China, however, where infection
cent, with the continent entering rates have remained low following
its first recession in a quarter of a initial lockdown, the World Bank
century – effectively erasing the last anticipates growth will have
five years of poverty reduction. 56 continued at around 1.6 per cent in
2020.58

Some groups of countries are particularly vulnerable though infection rates have been much lower than
to economic downturns caused by the pandemic those elsewhere in the world.59
irrespective of their own infection rates. Small island
Economic uncertainty and regional variation will
states in the Pacific, for example, which rely heavily
continue as infection rates evolve and until vaccines
on tourism, have been hard hit economically even

eTrade for all 25

 and therapeutic medicines become widely available,
reducing the need for movement constraints and
restoring economic confidence.
The effects on employment provides a useful
illustration of these wider economic impacts,
not least because reduced incomes arising from
unemployment and underemployment curtail
consumer spending. In late June, the International
Labour Organization (ILO) reported that countries
that comprised 93 per cent of the world’s workers
had some sort of workplace closure measure in place,
requiring people to work from home if possible or
rendering them at least temporarily unemployed if
they could not (sometimes with financial protections
such as furlough schemes). An estimated 14 per
cent of working hours, equivalent to 400 million full-
time jobs, had been lost worldwide between the last
quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020 as a
result of the pandemic.60
affected businesses. Similar measures are reported
by ESCWA in the Arab region.64 Some transition and
developing economies have instituted measures of
this kind with more limited resources.65 Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, for instance, are reported
by UNECE to have deferred tax payments, introduced
VAT exemptions and prolonged interest and rent
payment periods.66
Such interventions to support businesses and
employees are, however, less feasible in lower income
countries with weaker macroeconomic contexts. As
the World Bank notes, therefore, ‘small businesses in
richer countries [have tended to have] a higher level of
support from the government than small businesses
in poor countries.’67 This has knock-on effects for the
wider economy, including e-commerce.

Income inequalities appear to have grown in many

countries, because lower-income groups have been
disproportionately affected by redundancies and the
loss of informal earning opportunities. The World
Bank has suggested that nearly 80 per cent of the 1.6
billion workers in the informal economy worldwide
have faced lockdowns and slowdowns in industries
ranging from wholesale and retail distribution,
food and hospitality, tourism and transport to
manufacturing. Women have been particularly
affected by this, with 540 million women in informal
employment around the world, mostly in services.61

Global economic recovery is therefore expected

to be prolonged and uneven. Countries that have
more resilient finances and established systems
for business support and social welfare are better
placed both to sustain economic activity and to
provide income support for those adversely affected
during the crisis, and to ‘build back better’ during the
recovery.62

Most developed countries have instituted

financial support packages for businesses63 and
employees affected by COVID-19, making more
jobs sustainable and maintaining purchasing power
within the economy as a whole. The United Kingdom
government, for example, has subsidized wages
and salaries for employees furloughed during the
crisis and provided a variety of financial support to

26 A GLOBAL REVIEW
 B Global trade in goods and services
a. Before the pandemic
The SDGs recognize the contribution of equitable
multilateral trade as ‘an engine for development’,
calling for a significant increase in developing
countries’ share of international commerce. They
make no specific mention of e-commerce, but there
has been growing recognition of its potential, like
that of other ICTs, since the adoption of the SDGs in
2015. 69
Trade in both goods and services is supported by
e-commerce (and relevant to this study) because of
the increasing role that digital ordering and payment
mechanisms play across B2B business arrangements
in all countries. Customs and other international
trade arrangements are also increasingly digital,
with online monitoring of consignments and digital
data exchange becoming critical aspects of trade
facilitation.
The overall trend in global trade in recent years
– from the economic crisis of 2008/2009 up to the
start of the pandemic – has been positive. The share
of exports (of goods and services) in global GDP
has been running at around 28 per cent since 2015.
Global trade in goods grew at an average rate of 6.2
per cent per year between 1990 and 2007, and by 2.3
per cent per year between 2012 and 2019.70 Growth
in world trade was slower, however, during 2019 in
the run-up to the pandemic, and will be followed by
contraction during 2020.71
The World Trade Organization (WTO) estimates
that service sectors now generate more than two-
b. The impact of the pandemic
International trade in goods, much of which now
relies substantially on digital ordering and logistics,
has been adversely affected by the pandemic as
thirds of economic output, attract over two-thirds
of foreign direct investment and are responsible for
over 40 per cent of world trade.72 The relationship
between goods and services varies between regions
and countries. Generally speaking, developed
countries show a higher ratio of services to goods
in GDP, with lower ratios in LDCs and countries that
are highly dependent on exporting commodities.
Service sectors account for the majority of women’s
employment and a large share of activity in micro,
small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).73
The extent of intra-regional trade also varies
considerably, the result of geographic factors (such as
proximity in the case of small island states), geopolitics
(such as the risks associated with conflict), the size of
domestic and adjacent markets, the competitiveness
of locally produced goods and services in relation to
those available from global suppliers, and the ease of
doing business across borders. Sub-Saharan Africa,
for instance, has notably lower levels of formal cross-
border trade than other regions. A number of factors
contribute to this, including difficulties at border
crossings, poor intra-regional transport links and
the competitive challenge for small-scale domestic
manufacturers and suppliers posed by high-volume
producers from other parts of the world that can
leverage greater economies of scale.74 (Informal
trade is, nevertheless, significant for many small-
scale traders at sub-Saharan border-crossings.)
a result of reductions in demand (due to reduced
discretionary spending in importing countries),
movement controls and restrictions on transit
eTrade for all 27
 imposed to mitigate and minimize the spread of
infection. Lockdowns in China, the United States
and the European Union – which are collectively
responsible for almost two thirds of global imports
and exports – have had particularly serious impacts
on international supply chains, reducing volumes of
goods imported from countries in other regions.75
Overall, UNCTAD’S latest estimates suggest that
global trade in goods may fall by some 9 per cent in
2020 as against 2019, and global trade in services by
15 per cent.76
The first quarter of 2020, as the pandemic spread
around the world, saw global trade contract by 3.5
per cent and global manufacturing output by 6 per
cent.77 This was followed by a drop of almost 18 per
cent in global trade in goods in May 2020 (compared
with the previous May). UPU reported a 21 per
cent fall in cross-border postal exchanges between
23 January and 14 May 2020 (compared with the
same period in 2019), with lengthened delivery and
customs clearance times.78 Industry-wide cargo
tonnage dropped by 9.1 per cent in February 2020 in
seasonally adjusted terms,79 while world merchandise
trade is predicted to fall by between 13 and 32 per
cent in 2020.80
There have been significant variations between
regions over time as the pandemic has waxed, waned
and waxed again, with impacts in heavily affected
countries trickling down to those from which they
import.
• Chinese exports fell by about 21 per cent in
February 2020 compared with the same month
in 2019, affecting both local output and demand
for imports from elsewhere, but have recovered
since because China’s infection level
remained low. 81
Trade in services has also been affected. The value of
exports from a group of 37 countries, which in 2019
accounted for around two-thirds of global exports of
services, shrank by 10.4 per cent in the first quarter
of 2020 (compared to the same period in 2019).83
Tourism has been particularly badly hit. Before the
pandemic it accounted for 24 per cent of global
commercial services exports, including 32 per cent
of those from developing countries and 50 per cent
of those from LDCs.84 International tourist arrivals
declined by 44 per cent worldwide between January
and April 2020, compared with the same period in
2019.85 The World Tourism Organization expects
arrivals to drop by between 58 and 78 per cent in
2020, as compared with 2019, depending on how the
pandemic evolves, whether travel restrictions can be
lifted and whether they need to be reimposed.86
There have been gains in some global markets
however, for both goods and services, resulting
from the pandemic. Demand for medical supplies,
particularly personal protective equipment (PPE)
has surged, while that for digital equipment to
take advantage of online work and entertainment
has also increased.87 The shift from office to home
working and the closure of public entertainment
venues have led to substantial increases in demand
for videoconferencing and digital entertainment
services. Although local platforms are also available,
much of this growth represents purchase of services
from corporations based in developed rather than
developing countries, such as Zoom, Microsoft
Teams, Netflix and online games platforms.88
has

• F
 actory shutdowns in the European Union have
had significant repercussions on exports from
Africa and Asia. The International Trade Centre
(ITC) predicts that African exporters may lose
more than US$ 2.4 billion in global industrial
supply chain exports due to factory shutdowns in
China, Europe and the United States, more than
70 per cent of which will result from temporary
disruption of supply chain links with the EU.82

28 A GLOBAL REVIEW
BOX 2.2
The e-Trade for all partnership has a special focus
on women entrepreneurs, in particular through
one of its major spin-off programmes, the eTrade
for Women initiative. Women digital entrepreneurs
are significantly under-represented in the ICT
sector and the digital economy. Addressing this
inequality will not just improve gender equity but
also improve the contribution that MSMEs make
to SDGs concerned with alleviating poverty and
enabling empowerment.
Women’s unequal representation in digital
economies is a reflection of pre-existing gender
inequality and vulnerability in social, political,
and economic systems.89 Women tend to assume
a larger share of care and domestic work and
take responsibility for decisions that can benefit
their families and broader communities.90 This
constrains their business opportunities. As things
stand, women own or manage only some 20 per
cent of export firms worldwide, and about a third
of the world’s micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises.91 In Sub-Saharan Africa, women
make up some 70 per cent of cross-border
traders, many of them in the informal economy.92
MSMEs owned by women tend to be smaller
and thus more vulnerable to fixed costs, volatile
international prices and trade-related regulations
and obstacles. Evidence suggests, however, that
businesses led by women tend to grow faster
and to employ more people than those led by
men,83 and that if they are supported to work
under the same conditions as those led by their
male counterparts, they could facilitate a deeper
reduction in hunger and impoverishment.94
Times of uncertainty (like the pandemic) tend to
exacerbate inequalities such as those experienced
by women in e-commerce.95 They have had to
navigate shifting global value chains during the
COVID-19 crisis while suffering from unequal
access to information, skills, networks and
resources.96 As a result, the United Nations notes,
’Emerging evidence on the impact of COVID-19
suggests that women’s economic and productive
lives will be affected disproportionately and
differently from men’.97 This is because, ‘Across
the globe, women earn less, save less, hold less
secure jobs, [and] are more likely to be employed
in the informal sector. They have less access to
social protections and are the majority of single-
parent households. Their capacity to absorb
economic shocks is therefore less than that of
men’.97
The 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for
Action, the year 2020, was expected to provide
an opportunity to celebrate gender equality. The
COVID-19 pandemic has, however, put at risk
many of the gains made to promote women’s
rights and representation since the Platform was
agreed. Policies aimed at supporting business
development and entrepreneurship have often
to consider women’s unique ‘positions in value
chains, their multiple roles in society or their
access to assets, skills and networks’.98 This is a
core value of the eTrade for all initiative.
eTrade for all 29
 B
Trends in ICTs in relation to trade
and development
a. Before the pandemic
The level of participation in digital technology and
the Internet is a powerful indicator of an economy’s
capacity to leverage e-commerce (and therefore one
of the four indicators in UNCTAD’s B2C e-commerce
index). The ability of businesses to participate in
international markets depends increasingly on the
quality of digital connectivity available to them, while
the ability of citizens to shop online or use online
commercial services depends on the availability of
reliable (and preferably broadband) communications
networks, the affordability of suitable hardware
and data packages, the existence of relevant
online platforms and services, and individuals’ own
capabilities and digital literacy.
Digital inequality – between and within regions,
countries and communities – has been a longstanding
concern in international ICT policy. Two indicators,
illustrated in Figures 2.3 and 2.4, illustrate how digital
inequalities affect countries’ abilities to engage in
electronic trade.
Figure 2.3
International bandwidth per Internet user, kbit/s,
ITU estimates, 2019
30 A GLOBAL REVIEW
• The volume of international bandwidth per
Internet user offers a reasonable proxy for the
quantity and quality of connectivity available to
national businesses in international markets.
Although this on average more than doubled
across the globe between 2015 and 2019, the
average figure in developed countries (189kb/s)
is more than twice that in developing countries
(91kb/s) and more than nine times that in LDCs
(21kb/s).99
• The proportion of individuals using the Internet
(at least occasionally) worldwide is estimated by
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
to have grown steadily from 13.8 per cent in 2005
to 53.8 per cent in 2019, but these global figures
also mask substantial differences. The estimate
for developed countries (86.3 per cent) is almost
twice that for developing countries and more
than four times that for LDCs (47.0 and 19.1 per
cent respectively); that for Europe (82.5 per cent)
more than three times that for Sub-Saharan
Africa (28.2 per cent).100
Figure 2.4
Individuals using the Internet per 100 inhabitants,
ITU estimates, 2019
Within countries, connectivity and usage of
the Internet are often higher among men than
women (with particularly substantial differences
in LDCs),101
between urban and rural areas, 102
and
between people with higher and lower incomes and
educational attainment levels.103 Recent evidence
suggests that these inequalities are not diminishing
and may be growing as innovations in technology
and services are adopted more quickly by higher
income groups.104
These inequalities in digital access between countries
and amongst individuals are reflected also in the
business world.
• Informal businesses in developing countries
are much less likely to participate in the digital
economy than formal businesses. Very few informal
b. During the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the value
of ICTs in enabling economic activity to continue
despite the dramatic curtailment of movement
of goods and people that has taken place. Office
workers worldwide have been required, encouraged
or preferred to work from home, using the Internet,
messaging and videoconferencing platforms to
do work that was previously performed in offices,
while international business travel has been largely
displaced by videoconferencing. Digitalization has
thereby mitigated the economic damage that has
been caused by the pandemic, experience which
may lead to lasting changes in work patterns with
continued reliance on digital technologies for those
who work in offices when the crisis recedes.
Likewise, online entertainment has partially
substituted, for those with adequate connectivity,
for other leisure-time activities. Fifty-eight per cent
of respondents in a consumer survey undertaken
by UNCTAD in nine countries in mid-2020 reported
that they were browsing and spending a lot of time
on entertainment sites during the pandemic.107
Netflix added 26 million new subscribers in the first
two quarters of 2020, compared with just 28 million
businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa currently make
use of the Internet, with survey respondents
identifying three main reasons for non-adoption:
perceived need, cost, and unavailability of relevant
networks or services.105
• A study of MSMEs in ASEAN countries in 2019, for
instance, found that, while 90 per cent were making
use of basic digital tools such as email and standard
office software, only 34 per cent were making use
of websites, social media or e-commerce platforms
and only 10 per cent made use of advanced digital
tools or saw digitalization as part of their core
business model.106
in the whole of 2019,108 while streaming services in
Latin America have been projected to grow by 36
per cent over the year.109 Nintendo and Tencent both
saw gaming sales increase during the first quarter.
Analysis from GamesIndustry.biz shows that sales
across fifty major markets rose by 63 per cent
during the first quarter while data from Comcast
show that new game downloads have increased by
80 per cent.110 There is evidence also of growth in
music downloads, not least in developing country
markets.111
Some major online platforms have seen substantial
improvements in financial performance and stock
value as a result of improvements in their business
climate during the pandemic. The online retailer
(and cloud service provider) Amazon, for instance,
registered its most profitable quarter in the third
quarter of 2020, with growth of more than 35 per cent
in both United States and international sales revenue
– including 33 per cent growth in own product sales
and almost 55 per cent growth in income from sellers
on its marketplace.112 The African platform Jumia saw
an increase of over 50 per cent, from 3.1 million to
4.7 million, in the volume of transactions during the
first six months of 2020, compared with the same
eTrade for all 31
 period in 2019.113 Netflix revenues are reported to services. Data use has increased substantially,
have grown by 25 per cent.114 with most networks experiencing annual growth
of 30 to 45 per cent from previous levels in a
These developments in videoconferencing and
few short weeks at the start of the pandemic.115
home entertainment, and similar growth in distance
In Europe and the Americas, some satellite
learning, form parts of the evolving e-commerce
operators providing broadband connectivity
ecosystem. They would have been possible ten
direct to users have experienced traffic growth
years ago, when ICTs were less advanced and less
of up to 70 per cent, especially in remote and
pervasive, but they have also demonstrated two
rural areas.116
important limitations of today’s ICT environments.
Networks have proved more resilient in most
• Those who are less connected and those whose
countries to this increase in demand than was initially
jobs cannot be done from home have been
expected, while digital businesses and governments
less able to take advantage of ICTs’ potential.
have amended regulations and business models
More manual than office workers have lost
to optimize use of available resources. Increased
jobs or income, with consequential cuts in
demand has nevertheless given greater urgency
purchasing power. Children whose schools have
to measures intended to increase bandwidth and
been temporarily closed and who lack digital
extend connectivity to underserved communities.
access or devices at home have been further
It has also clarified infrastructure needs for longer-
disadvantaged in their educations. Social and
term recovery. These developments are discussed in
economic inequality is generally thought,
CHAPTER 3.
therefore, to have risen in result.

• H
 igher demand for connectivity has put greater
pressure on communications networks and

32 A GLOBAL REVIEW
PART 2 –
TRENDS IN E-COMMERCE

eTrade for all 33

 Summary
The second part of this chapter is concerned
specifically with trends in e-commerce before and
during the pandemic. Its analysis draws on research
by UNCTAD, contributions by the UN’s Regional
Commissions, inputs from other eTrade for all
partners, and other published literature. There are
important limitations to the evidence base which
should be noted. Most countries still do not publish
official statistics in this area and those that do
sometimes do not follow international guidelines.
Many more countries publish data concerning
B2C transactions than those concerned with B2B
e-commerce. 117
Data are also more available for the
first half of 2020 than for the later months of the
pandemic crisis.
The pandemic and measures to cope with its effects
have had two major impacts on the relationship
between offline and online commerce, concerned
respectively with international and domestic trade.
These are derived in large part from movement
restrictions to reduce the spread of the infection and
public anxiety about personal infection risks:
• Restrictions on transport and additional safety
requirements at ports, airports and land
borders have disrupted international trade
in goods and services, including many goods
that are now enabled by digital transactions,
and small consignments that are often
despatched on passenger aircraft. Disruption
to international trade has enhanced awareness
and understanding of the value of international
e-commerce, including digital trade facilitation,
in sustaining economic activity, suggesting
the need for accelerated efforts to promote
digitalization throughout supply chains.
34 A GLOBAL REVIEW
• There has been extensive substitution of
e-shopping and streaming for more traditional
retail and entertainment services. The online
share of retail sales has increased in all sectors,
particularly pharmaceutical and health goods
(especially at the start of the pandemic),
groceries, and electronic and ICT goods that are
used for homeworking and home entertainment.
Average expenditure per consumer has fallen,
however, as those on lower incomes have
turned to online shopping. Many consumers
report deferring more expensive purchases until
incomes become more predictable.
Changes in shopping, entertainment and workplace
behaviour, and associated adaptations in business
practice, have accelerated ongoing transitions from
physical to online markets that are likely to have lasting
impact, particularly if recovery from the pandemic
is spasmodic or prolonged.118 However, these
accelerated trends in international and domestic
e-commerce are also likely to exacerbate disparities
in economic performance between countries with
higher and lower levels of e-commerce. This reinforces
the need for governments, business stakeholders
and international development partners to address
barriers to e-readiness and establish environments
that enable businesses to leverage gains from
greater engagement with e-trade.
a. Before the pandemic
International e-commerce
UNCTAD estimates that the global value of
e-commerce sales (including both B2B and B2C)
reached almost US$ 26 trillion in 2018, accounting
for 30 per cent of GDP and representing growth of
eight per cent over 2017. Within this figure the United
States was by far the largest market. The value of
global B2B e-commerce was estimated at US$ 21
trillion, representing 83 per cent of all e-commerce,
including transactions over online market platforms
and electronic data interchange. The value of B2C
e-commerce was estimated to be US$ 4.4 trillion in
2018, an increase of 16 per cent over 2017. The three
countries with the highest values of B2C e-commerce
sales were China, the United States and the United
Kingdom.119
The relationship between international and domestic
e-commerce is not clear-cut. Within the limits of
available data, UNCTAD estimates that international
B2C e-commerce sales amounted to US$ 404 billion
in 2018, representing an increase of seven per cent
over 2017, and accounting for about 10 per cent of
total B2C e-commerce, though this varied between
countries. While the majority of online shoppers
bought mostly from domestic suppliers, a little
over 20 per cent - some 330 million - made cross-
border purchases in 2018. Interest in buying from
foreign suppliers was expanding. The share of cross-
border online shoppers to all online shoppers, it was
estimated, had risen from 17 per cent in 2016 to 23
per cent in 2018.120
Domestic e-commerce
Domestic e-commerce has been developing for much
of the present century. Although the initial growth of
online shopping was slower than anticipated, it has
accelerated in the past decade. (Interestingly, in the
present context, past experience of health crises
played some part in its development. The Chinese
firm JD.com, now one of the world’s largest online
retailers, moved into online sales in 2004 in response
to the SARS crisis of 2002/3.124)
As well as large-scale B2B transactions, a substantial
amount of small-scale B2B and B2C trade takes
place between continents and across land borders,
especially in two contexts.
• Many transactions involving small consignments
between merchants and customers in different
countries transit by air, often on passenger
flights. A decade ago it was estimated that the
average online shopper in the European Union
spent 939 euros per year on domestic and 693
euros on cross-border e-commerce,121 much of
which would transit in this way.
• A substantial amount of exchange takes place
between MSMEs and informal enterprises in the
proximity of border crossings, where many small-
scale traders rely on such cross-border trade.122
It was estimated some time ago, for example,
that between 30 and 40 per cent of Sub-Saharan
Africa’s intra-regional trade is informal and that
four times as many cross-border traders may be
operating outside the formal economy as within
it on the continent.123 As ownership of mobile
telephones has grown, an increasing proportion
of ordering of goods among such traders now
takes place online.
While all of these transactions involve the transfer of
goods, they increasingly make use of digital ordering
and transaction mechanisms as well as digital trade
facilitation.
Sustained but variable growth in domestic
e-commerce was taking place before the pandemic,
though with large variations between countries.
These differences were broadly consistent with
average income levels, as shown in Figure 2.5, but
also affected by other aspects of the digital and legal
environment.125
• Data from six European countries with highly
connected populations show that more than 80
eTrade for all 35
 per cent of Internet users were making some • In more than twenty lower-income countries,
purchases online before the crisis.126
where few people were online to start with,
less than 10 per cent of Internet users were
• Among developing countries, the highest levels
e-shopping before the crisis struck (implying
of online shopping could be found in higher-
that e-shopping take-up in the adult population
income Asian countries, with much lower levels
as a whole was very low indeed).129
of participation in lower-income countries that
had lower broadband penetration rates and These regional differences can be illustrated by data
levels of disposable income. from WTO and from UNCTAD’s B2C e-commerce
index, as shown in Figure 2.5. Several reasons can
• Similar differences could be found in the Arab
be adduced for them. Alongside the basic level of
region, where the largest e-commerce markets
connectivity which enables people to buy goods
before the pandemic were in wealthier Gulf
and services online, these include the availability of
states (the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar),127 and
online shopping platforms, the range of businesses
in the UNECE region, where the percentage
that have considered online shopping offerings
of the population engaged in online shopping
worthwhile where there are relatively small markets
ranged from 70 per cent and more in Germany,
for them in countries such as LDCs, the availability
France and the Russian Federation to 15 per cent
of digital payment mechanisms, the cost of online
in Armenia and less than 10 per cent in some
transactions in relation to purchasing power, and
Central Asian countries.128
the level of consumer confidence in the security of
online transactions. These constraints/challenges
are discussed in CHAPTER 3.

Figure 2.5
Use of Internet for online purchases by adults, country groups by income category, 2017 131

36 A GLOBAL REVIEW
 BOX 2.3 THE ROLE OF PLATFORMS
Online platforms are (usually commercial)
digital environments that enable different
parties to interact online. They are increasingly
important in the world economy, using data-
driven business models to complement,
disrupt and sometimes displace more
traditional ways of doing business.
In its 2019 Digital Economy Report, UNCTAD
distinguishes between transaction and
innovation platforms. The former provides
online infrastructure that supports exchanges
between a number of different parties, while
the latter create environments for code and
content producers to develop applications and
software. ‘Platform-centred businesses’, the
report notes, ‘have a major advantage in the
data-driven economy. As both intermediaries
and infrastructures, they are positioned to
record and extract all data related to online
actions and interactions among users of the
platform’.132
In recent years, the market for domestic digital
supply of many products in many countries has
b. During the pandemic
Significant shifts have occurred in the scope and scale of e-commerce during the pandemic. Different trends are
evident in international/cross-border and domestic contexts.137 Evidence on these is summarized below.
International e-commerce
The majority of international e-commerce consists
of transactions for goods that are ordered digitally
and subsequently delivered over traditional transit
routes though ports, airports and border crossings.
A growing proportion of transactions for such goods
– both B2B and B2C – takes place online.138 Disruption
to supply chains disrupts e-commerce, while efforts
to facilitate trade enable it. The environment for the
transit of goods is therefore fundamental to the
effective functioning of international e-commerce
and to consideration of the pandemic’s impact on it.
Intercontinental and intra-regional e-commerce
concerned with goods have been adversely affected
by restrictions on cross-border transit imposed
by governments to constrain virus transmission,
and by reductions in transport capacity resulting
become dominated by a small number of global
platforms, such as US-based Amazon and
the Chinese companies Alibaba and JD.com.
However, the relative importance of global
and local platforms varies between countries.
Amazon is estimated to have some 14 per
cent of the global market for e-shopping,133 for
example, including a majority market share in
the United States and a 30 per cent share in
the United Kingdom. In China, Alibaba’s Tmall
service, JD.com and Pinduoduo share some 80
per cent of the retail e-commerce market.134
Lazada (now owned by Alibaba) and Shopee
(based in Singapore) are widely used in South
East Asia,135 as is Mercado Libre in Latin
America where it operates in fifteen countries.
Some two-thirds of online purchases in Saudi
Arabia are made from websites based in the
Gulf region rather than global platforms such
as Amazon and Alibaba, while Arab websites
also predominate in Egypt’s market for
e-commerce.136
from movement controls and reduced demand for
passenger flights. These factors have affected all
trade that requires international transit and delivery,
including consignments ordered through B2B and
B2C e-commerce platforms.
• In Africa, for example, 38 countries have
announced some form of land closures during
the pandemic – with concurrent falls of 5, 16
and 23 per cent in exports in February, March,
and April compared to the same months in 2019
(while imports declined by 7 per cent in March
2020 and 25 per cent in April 2020 over the
previous year). A significant proportion of this
trade consists of transactions that have been
facilitated through e-commerce.139
eTrade for all 37
 • ECLAC projects a 23 per cent contraction in the
value of regional goods exports in Latin America
and the Caribbean during 2020, with falls of more
than 10 per cent in both volume and value, along
with a similar fall in imports.
140
Border lockdowns – common in most countries
during the pandemic – have restricted shipping
and transportation, causing severe disruptions
in supply chains for all trade, both traditional and
e-commerce. Shortage of staff and enhanced
requirements for additional safety precautions have
also slowed trade processes in which physical human
interaction is required, such as border inspections.
Uncertainties and poor information exchange, for
instance regarding new protective measures or rules
about restrictions, have added to confusion at ports,
airports and border crossings, leading to significant
delays in transit and in some cases the exhaustion of
storage capacity. 141
ECLAC believes that the most important factor
disrupting international trade in its region has been
disruption to air and maritime transport. Although
Domestic e-commerce: online services
Experience with domestic e-commerce has been
very different from that affecting international
e-commerce. The widespread shift from office to
home working and the closure of public entertainment
venues during the pandemic have led to substantial
increases in the use of teleworking, distance learning,
online networking, and entertainment sites. The
impact of this has varied between and within
countries, as online alternatives have been more
available to those with better connectivity, office jobs
and higher incomes.
Transition to homeworking by office workers has
been facilitated by videoconferencing applications
such as Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Zoom
experienced the most spectacular growth among
these platforms, with daily meeting participants
surging from 10 million in December 2019 to 300
million by April. The United States experienced a
300 per cent increase in use of videoconferencing
platforms early in the pandemic, while in Thailand,
data traffic from Zoom and Skype increased by 828
38 A GLOBAL REVIEW
the number of freight flights did not fall significantly
(and may have increased in the Arab region),142 the
number of passenger flights – which transport much
merchandise that is ordered online – halved between
January and August. There was also a significant drop
in maritime container trade.143
There is, however, evidence of change as the pandemic
has evolved during the course of the year and as
e-commerce businesses have taken the opportunity
to compensate for disruption to traditional trading
arrangements. The consultancy McKinsey, for
example, reports that cross-border e-commerce
volumes picked up from the second quarter of 2020,
as economies adjusted to pandemic realities and
initial logistical challenges were addressed. UPS and
PayPal, it reports, both reported substantial growth
in the second quarter on cross-border shipment
volumes and values. Assessing the extent to which
this has continued and its implications for the
future require further data from diverse commercial
environments.144
and 215 per cent respectively between 1 January and
19 March 2020.145 In Latin America and the Caribbean,
the use of teleworking services increased by 324 per
cent between the first and second quarters of 2020,
while that of distance education grew by more than
60 per cent.146
Similar growth has been seen in educational and
entertainment services.
• More than half of those surveyed by UNCTAD in a
study of nine countries that it conducted during
the pandemic said that they now ‘spend a lot of
time on entertainment sites’.147
• Data from Brazil show that enrolment in education
courses, music and video streaming services
went up by 68, 59 and 26 per cent respectively
between 2018 and the second quarter of 2020.148
• Survey data from South Africa show growth
across all areas of home media consumption,
with the highest growth rates for social media
 and messaging services, YouTube videos and
news coverage. 149
• The South African streaming business Showmax
has grown its subscriber base by a fifth year
on year, while Netflix predicts a 15 per cent
increase on the African continent between the
first and third quarters of 2020 (from a very low
base of streaming adoption at the start of the
pandemic).150
• T
 he ITU reports a 400 per cent growth in online
gaming in the United States, probably influenced
by children being out of school,151 while in Chile,
Internet traffic associated with gaming services
more than trebled year-on-year in the first four
months of the pandemic.152
While demand for teleconferencing and
entertainment services has grown, platforms that
deliver services that have been adversely affected by
pandemic movement restrictions have seen activity
plunge, bringing business models into question.
Domestic e-commerce: retail
The pandemic has had a substantial impact on retail,
including a significant transfer of market share from
offline to online businesses. National lockdowns,
restrictions on movement, public anxiety about
infection and mandatory closures of non-essential
retail stores have had a marked impact on patterns of
consumer behaviour, encouraging online shopping
at the expense of traditional retail across the world.
One side impact of this has been an increase in
employment in the online shopping and delivery
sectors,158 though this has only partly compensated
for loss of jobs in the economy as a whole since the
pandemic began.
Overall retail, including both online and offline sales,
has been impacted negatively by financial uncertainty
among consumers as well as formal lockdowns and
business closures. Well over one hundred countries
worldwide had instituted full or partial lockdowns by
the end of March 2020, affecting billions of people,
while many others recommended movement
• The proportion of Internet users buying airline
tickets or booking accommodation through
e-commerce platforms in Brazil fell by 65 per cent
and 41 per cent in 2020 compared with 2018.153
• The online booking agency Travelstart, which
operates in Africa, saw a drop in bookings from
March to May, though this picked up slightly
subsequently, reaching around half of previous
volumes for the time of year by August.154
• Online accommodation agency Airbnb has
experienced a huge downturn in bookings, with
a 72 per cent decline in revenue reported early in
the pandemic.155
• Estimates published by the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) suggest that there
will be a fall of just over 50 per cent in the number
of airline seats offered by airlines during 2020.156
The International Air Transport Association (IATA)
fears that the travel industry may not recover from
these setbacks until 2024.157
restrictions for some or all of their citizens.159 Reduced
incomes and the risk of redundancy for many people
have affected their ability and desire to buy goods
and services, both offline and online. This led to a
sharp initial drop in purchases in some countries,
even online, as merchants and consumers struggled
to adjust at the start of the pandemic.
Many people who could do so stopped visiting shops
as the pandemic struck, even where these were
allowed to remain open. Google’s data-monitoring
of community mobility, for instance, found that
visits to retail and entertainment establishments
fell by 70 per cent between February and April 2020
as the pandemic hit Latin America, while those to
grocery and pharmacy establishments dropped by
45 per cent - though by September these figures had
recovered significantly (to around 30 and 10 per cent
below previous levels).160
At the same time, as retail stores closed or were
considered risky and avoided by many customers,
eTrade for all 39
 a substantial shift occurred towards contactless
e-shopping, with customers buying goods online for
subsequent collection or delivery.
Digital entrepreneurs in a number of countries recall
an initial period of instability caused by lockdowns and
protests but conclude that once stability resumed,
their businesses increased their trading volumes.
Paystack, a financial payments company with more
than 60,000 merchants across Africa, reported for
instance that transactions on its platform contracted
briefly after lockdowns in the countries where it
operates. However, it has since recorded a surge in
Figure 2.6:
Evidence concerning retail sales in the United Kingdom and European Union.163
A. Share of e-commerce in total retail sales, United
Kingdom and United States (2018-2020)
• In the United States, the share of e-commerce in
total retail sales rose from 11.8 to 16.1 per cent
between the first and second quarters; in the
United Kingdom from 20.3 to 31.3 per cent. 164
• In China, the online share of retail sales rose
from 19.4 to 24.6 per cent between August 2019
and August 2020. 165
• In Kazakhstan, the share of e-commerce in retail
trade grew from 5.0 per cent in 2019 to 9.4 per
cent in 2020.166
40 A GLOBAL REVIEW
transactions five times higher than pre-pandemic
levels.161 In Colombia, too, online sales are reported
to have fallen as the pandemic hit, then risen sharply
again to nearly pre-pandemic levels in the period up
to May.162
Evidence from across the world illustrates growth in
online sales, and in the market share of online retail
against offline, since the start of the pandemic, even
if that has occurred within a context of stagnant or
contracting overall retail. Illustrations of these trends
can also be found in Figure 2.6.
B. Retail turnover, year-on-year change, EU-27
( July 2019-2020)
• A study of 8,600 digital consumers in South
East Asia found that, while 47 per cent reduced
offline purchases during the six months between
January and June, 30 per cent increased their
online shopping.167
• Downloads of shopping apps jumped 60 per cent
in Thailand in the week between the imposition of
a partial lockdown and full emergency measures
during March.168
The online marketplace Mercado Libre showed an
increase of 40 per cent in average searches per
user across its Latin American operations between
late February and late May, resulting in the volume
of articles sold and deliveries per day more than
doubling between the second quarters of 2019
and 2020. Data from Argentina show a 63 per cent
increase in online sales in the first half of 2020, with
the share of online sales vis-à-vis physical shops
rising from 18 to 49 per cent, and a fifth of orders
coming from new customers. Data from Chile
suggest that there was an increase in the share of
sales done through e-commerce from 5 to 16 per
cent between May 2019 and 2020. 169
This experience
was not, however, universal in Latin America. In
Peru, restrictions to online selling in the early days
of the pandemic were so strict that they reportedly
curtailed online activity.170
A consumer survey by the market research company
Statista found substantial increases in use of
e-commerce in the ESCWA region, with almost half
of respondents in Saudi Arabia and Egypt saying that
they have been shopping online more frequently
during the pandemic, and more than a third saying
so in the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Lebanon
and Jordan. Significant proportions of respondents,
however, also reported using online shopping
less frequently, suggesting that care is needed in
interpreting studies that only ask about increased
participation.171
Only limited data for the later months of 2020 are so
far available, and there are some questions therefore
about the extent to which this surge in e-commerce
will continue. UNECE reports, for instance, that
some countries in its region, including the United
States, have experienced a slowdown in online retail
as the pandemic has continued, perhaps because
consumers are increasingly concerned about the risk
of unemployment or reduced incomes in future. 172
Within this overall picture, significant shifts have also
taken place in the supply and demand for different
types of goods, both offline and online. In the early
days of the pandemic there was, unsurprisingly,
a surge in purchases of health-related goods,
including personal protective equipment (PPE),
and of electronic goods and devices required for
homeworking and home entertainment. As the
pandemic has continued, a wider range of goods
– such as food and beverages, groceries, home
improvement and personal care products – have
also increased their share of retail sales, while survey
evidence suggests that many consumers have
delayed purchasing more expensive and luxury items
because of increased financial insecurity.173
The impact of this shift on businesses has varied.
• Retailers that were previously online-only have
naturally made gains, other than in sectors such
as travel and tourism.
• Traditional retailers that already had established
online offerings were better placed to maintain
more of their previous sales revenue than those
without them – though, for many, increased
online sales will not have compensated for
decreased offline sales.
• Many businesses that were previously offline-
only have launched new online offers, while
others have shifted their product offers to meet
changing consumer requirements.174
• Those that have remained wholly offline have
been worst hit, whether by enforced closure or
lower footfall due to customer anxiety and the
loss of passing trade.
UNCTAD has conducted two surveys to explore
these trends in greater depth – one, in conjunction
with Netcomm Suisse, concerned with consumer
behaviour and attitudes in nine countries across the
world;175 the other concerned with perceptions by
established e-commerce companies and platforms,
primarily in LDCs.176
The consumer research project surveyed samples of
around 250 consumers in each of five countries in the
ECE region (Germany, Italy, the Russian Federation,
Switzerland and Turkey) and four large developing
countries from other regions (Brazil, China, the
Republic of Korea and South Africa). No LDCs were
included.
• Within these samples the survey found higher
rates of growth in the number of people
shopping online in economies which started out
from lower rates of participation, such as China
and Turkey, than in countries which had more
established online shopping sectors before the
pandemic, such as Switzerland and Germany.
eTrade for all 41
 This would be consistent with higher rates of • established businesses newly entering
take-up of e-shopping lower down the income e-commerce or increasing/upscaling their
scale. e-commerce offerings;

• Growth in the number of online shoppers was • start-ups; and

evident across the countries surveyed for all
eleven product ranges investigated. It was
particularly high in products related to pandemic
needs (health and pharmaceutical products,
consumer electronics and ICT products) and in
essential goods such as groceries and personal
care products.
• Growth was evident in all age groups, but
strongest among those aged between 25 and
44, as well as among women, and those who had
attained tertiary education.
• Average expenditure per month through online
shopping, however, fell across all product ranges
by comparison with the period before the
pandemic. This may be because transactions
have become more frequent, because more
people with lower incomes are now purchasing
online, and/or because consumers are deferring
more expensive purchases until after the
pandemic when they hope their incomes will be
more secure and predictable.
• t hird party online marketplaces acting
as intermediaries between suppliers and
consumers.
Evidence was gathered between March and July 2020
from 184 e-commerce companies and 73 third party
marketplaces in 24 countries, around a quarter of
these providing a valuable subset of evidence from
Bangladesh.177
The survey found that – at least in the early stages
of the pandemic in these countries – third party
marketplaces, with wholly digital business models, had
proved more resilient than e-commerce companies
with a mix of offline and online sales. Almost 60 per
cent of these marketplaces saw increased numbers
of users, many of them new to their websites. Other
findings from the survey included:
• increases in costs for online businesses because
of supply chain difficulties due to lockdown,
movement restrictions, business closures and
closed borders;

• Although there has been growth in the use
of digital payments, in most of the countries
UNCTAD surveyed, those in its samples have
continued to prefer established means of
payment. These vary between countries – credit
and debit cards being most popular in Brazil, the
Republic of Korea and Turkey, PayPal in Germany
and Italy, and AliPay and WeChatPay in China.
Home delivery was preferred to store collection
in all countries.
UNCTAD’s research into impacts on e-commerce
companies and platforms adds additional
perspectives, though it should be borne in mind that
the countries concerned, primarily LDCs, have very
different underlying market characteristics than those
in the consumer survey, and the two are therefore
not directly complementary. This e-business survey
looked at different potential impacts on different
parts of the supply side of e-commerce, including:
• established e-commerce companies;
• s hifts in consumption patterns, including
increased use of online channels for purchasing
essential products;178
• significant growth in the use of social media
for online shopping as well as of e-commerce
websites; and
• increased uptake of e-payment mechanisms,
although cash payments continued to
predominate.
In LDCs, UNCTAD’s business survey indicated
substantial increase in the use of mobile money for
transactions, but also found that cash on delivery
remained the preference of many customers and had
continued to grow during the crisis (perhaps another
indication of e-shopping reaching further down the
income scale). Other evidence suggests that this
preference for cash on delivery is not restricted to
lower-income countries. Evidence from Qatar has
shown that, there too, almost half of online shoppers
paid this way before the pandemic.179

42 A GLOBAL REVIEW
Changes in supply chains affecting smaller suppliers
require more investigation. It is clear that many small
suppliers – for instance in the agriculture sector 180
– have lost access to traditional markets, while
many small retailers have lost access to traditional
suppliers. Further research could focus on the impact
this has had on their revenue streams and the extent
to which they have been able to move from offline to
online markets in order to sell produce.
eTrade for all 43
 PART 3 –
REGIONAL TRENDS BEFORE AND DURING
THE PANDEMIC

44 A GLOBAL REVIEW
Not every country’s pandemic experience has been
the same. Some that were affected early, particularly
in Asia, were able during the latter half of 2020 to
maintain low infection rates, enabling economic
activity to return closer to pre-pandemic conditions.
Others, including many in Europe, experienced a
dip following lockdowns in the spring, but suffered
a second wave of infections later in the year that has
led to renewed lockdowns and other restrictions.
Infection rates have so far been lower than expected
in most of Africa, but have been particularly high
in the United States, some European countries and
much of Latin America and the Caribbean. The future
trajectory of infections remains uncertain.
Figure 2.7
Global share of retail e-commerce sales by region, 2020 (billion dollars)181
Studies associated with this report have been
undertaken by four of the United Nations’ Regional
Commissions. 182
The overall summary, illustrating
developments in one of these regions, Latin America
and the Caribbean, is set out some detail below,
to illustrate some of the main themes emerging
from the discussion in this chapter from a regional
perspective.
The studies show that many of these themes are
common worldwide, though differences also arise
E-commerce is unevenly distributed across the
globe, with a majority of transactions taking place
in the Asia-Pacific region (which is also the most
populous). The eMarketer’s 2020 Global E-Commerce
Report estimated that 62 per cent of global retail
e-commerce transactions by value took place in that
region in 2020, with North America and Western
Europe responsible for the bulk of the remainder.
Latin America, the Middle East and Africa together,
it estimated, accounted for just 3 per cent of total
e-trade. Its estimates are illustrated in Figure 2.8.
between regions as the result of their different
economic characteristics and different experiences
of pandemic. They also reveal significant differences
within each region that reflect the considerable
variation in economic and developmental
characteristics among regional countries and their
different e-commerce ecosystems, as well as different
experiences with the coronavirus.
eTrade for all 45
 The majority of AFRICAN COUNTRIES are
developing countries and LDCs, and the continent
has correspondingly low levels of online activity
and e-commerce compared to other world
regions.183
Although it has experienced lower levels of
infection from the pandemic than many other
regions, it is expected to suffer from declining
GDP in 2020, disrupting the developmental
progress which had been achieved during the
previous decade.
Africa also has low levels of intra-regional trade
by international standards. Online shopping has
increased substantially during the pandemic
among those groups with the income and
resources to make effective use of it but has
been inhibited by low levels of Internet usage
and access to finance, as well as by deficiencies in
enabling legislation for e-commerce.
UNECA’s report notes the dynamic potential
of e-commerce on the continent and urges
governments and development partners to
foster this by approving appropriate fiscal and
regulatory frameworks, promoting financial
inclusion, developing the projected African
Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)184 and
increasing engagement and partnership between
governments and digital entrepreneurs.185
The ARAB REGION has also seen major
differences in experience, in particular between oil-
producing states in the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) region and middle-income developing
countries around the Mediterranean.186 Higher
levels of e-commerce were evident in GCC
countries and some larger markets, such as
Egypt, before the pandemic, though even in the
strongest markets these represented less than
five per cent of total retail sales.187
As elsewhere, domestic e-commerce
accelerated during the pandemic, but ESCWA
reports that there are still many challenges to
growth including ‘unreliable and costly supply
46 A GLOBAL REVIEW
chains, limited awareness and skills …, insufficient
or inconsistent laws and regulations, limited or
deficient transport and logistics infrastructure,
lack of online or alternative payment facilities,
cultural preferences for face-to-face interaction,
and reliance on cash.’ GCC countries that have
established policy and legislative frameworks
for e-commerce, and have high levels of GNI per
capita, are best placed to build on the growth
in online shopping that has taken place over
the year. ESCWA emphasises the importance of
regional integration and cooperation, especially
in trade facilitation, in extending benefits to other
countries in the region.188
In the ECE REGION, major differences are
evident between the experience of countries
in the European Union and continental Europe,
the Russian Federation, transition economies
in eastern Europe and central Asia, and those in
North America.
E-commerce was strongly established in North
America and Western Europe before the
pandemic, with substantial inroads also in Eastern
Europe, the Russian Federation and Turkey, but
was much less well-established in transition
economies of Central Asia.
The pandemic has struck countries in Europe and
North America particularly hard, strengthening
the demand for online shopping, as well as
videoconferencing, digital entertainment and
online gaming. High levels of digital inclusion and
experience, strong infrastructures and relatively
high per capita incomes have facilitated business
and individual resilience to the pandemic in higher-
income countries, supported by macroeconomic
interventions to maintain businesses and
individual incomes, though increases in inequality
and hardship are also reported.189
has
 No separate report has been prepared for the
ASIA/PACIFIC REGION as part of this project.
However, it too has seen substantial differences
between sub-regions and countries with different
economic and developmental characteristics.
Asia/Pacific is a particularly diverse region, including
the world’s two largest countries by population
(China and India), other countries with very large
populations (such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and
Pakistan) but also a considerable number of small
island states, especially in the Pacific. It includes
some of the world’s most prosperous countries
in terms of GDP per capita, but also several LDCs;
some of the world’s most connected countries and
some in which geographical difficulties and low
incomes make even basic connectivity a challenge.
The importance of REGIONAL COOPERATION
has been reinforced by the pandemic. Countries
and regions in which there is already extensive
trade cooperation, including free trade agreements,
collaborative customs arrangements, and
harmonization of standards, have been better
placed to maintain international commerce. 191
This
has been important for trade in goods, an increasing
proportion of which are now ordered and transacted
online. Harmonization and interoperability have been
The pandemic has also affected countries in the
region differently. China and other countries in
East Asia experienced its impact first but have
had relatively low infection rates during the latter
half of 2020, leading to expectations that they will
suffer less severe economic downturns as a result.
In some small island states, infections have been
very low indeed, while in other countries, notably
India, the pandemic has been far more severe and
disruptive.
Evidence suggests that, as elsewhere, there has
been a substantial move towards online shopping,
building on existing trends, which is likely to have
lasting impacts.190 Further research in this region
will help to build understanding of the diversity of
outcomes from the crisis.
particularly valuable with respect to transactions,
including payments using different modalities in
different currencies. The regional reports point to
the role that regional economic communities – such
as the European Union, the East African Community,
Mercosur, ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union
– can play in maintaining regional economic activity
during the pandemic and in the longer term.
eTrade for all 47
 BOX 2.4 The impact of COVID-19 on e-commerce in Latin America and
the Caribbean192
The UN Regional Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC) commissioned a comprehensive
study of the impact of e-commerce on its region,
which is separately published alongside this report.
The LAC region has seen some of the most severe
epidemics of COVID-19 of any region. Brazil has
experienced the third highest infection level
worldwide, with over five million diagnosed cases by
late October and one of the highest death rates (over
700 per million inhabitants). Peru has recorded the
second highest death rate worldwide (over 1,000 per
million inhabitants) with seven other Latin American
countries in the global top twenty for that indicator.193
There is significant variation in economic
characteristics within the region, which includes both
large continental countries and small island states,
as well as prosperous middle-income nations, lower
income developing countries and one LDC (Haiti).
ECLAC’s findings on the experience of e-commerce
during the pandemic can be summarized as follows.
As in other regions, there has been sustained growth in
Internet connectivity over the past decade and about
half of the region’s population is currently online. This
has facilitated growth in domestic e-commerce. The
proportion of Internet users paying bills or shopping
online doubled or more than doubled in many LAC
countries between 2014 and 2017. However, by the
end of that period, the average stood at just 15.5 per
cent, about a quarter of the comparable figure for
Internet users in OECD countries.
There does not appear to have been a comparable
increase in international e-commerce before the
pandemic. While domestic parcel shipments grew
rapidly in the past decade, there was no comparable
growth in cross-border shipments, and the region’s
share of global B2C trade was well below its share of
global merchandise.
The high incidence of COVID-19 in the region
has dramatically affected economic output and
performance. Economic activity in the region is now
expected to fall by 9.1 per cent in 2020, taking its GDP
per capita back to 2010 levels, with consequential
increases in unemployment and poverty.
ECLAC estimates that the region has been more
adversely affected in international trade than any
other. Customs, postal and other business data show
that volumes of goods imported and exported in May
48 A GLOBAL REVIEW
2020 were more than 25 per cent down on the same
month in 2019. Exports of services also fell dramatically,
largely because of lost tourist revenues, while data
from Uruguay suggest a fall in the proportion of
Internet users purchasing from foreign online stores.
The unavailability of passenger air transport, which
is used for many small consignments, may have
contributed to this (though express services, which
make their own cargo arrangements, may have been
less affected).
By contrast, the high infection rate has propelled
dramatic growth in domestic e-commerce, with
growth in online purchases, digital payments and
deliveries. Rapid reductions in physical shopping
occurred quickly in the early stages of the pandemic,
with Google’s community mobility data recording large
falls in visits to retail and entertainment venues and
to grocery and pharmacy establishments. Although
these metrics recovered as the pandemic continued,
they remain well below pre-pandemic levels.
Evidence from countries that already had substantial
e-commerce activity shows strong growth in the
number of businesses selling online, many businesses
establishing new digital sales platforms, and growth
in the share of online sales compared with physical
stores. Established online stores saw increases in new
buyers and new orders between late February and the
start of May, with the number of new orders to the
online platform Mercado Libre more than doubling
in Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Industry participants
told ECLAC that online sales grew less dramatically,
however, in countries with weaker e-commerce
infrastructures.
Growth in online customer numbers was reported
widely across the region. Data from Brazil, for instance,
suggest that 66 per cent of Internet users bought
products and services online during the outbreak
compared with 44 per cent in 2018, the increase being
especially pronounced in lower income groups and
middle age groups. Growth appears to have been
significantly lower in Uruguay, which has experienced
lower infection rates.
Many of these customers were new to online shopping.
Visa reported that 20 per cent of its customers in the
LAC region completed e-commerce transactions for
the first time in the first quarter of 2020, while PayU
saw a 75 per cent increase in the number of its online
customers in the first half of the year.
 The range of products attracting high levels of
online shopping has changed over the course of
the pandemic. Pharmaceutical and COVID-related
health products were in particularly high demand
during the early period of infection, while demand for
groceries and other products grew later in response
to lockdowns and other movement restrictions.194
Delivery services have benefited from this, with those
focused on food deliveries reported to have more than
doubled their volume of trade.
The use of digital payment methods has become more
widespread since the onset of the pandemic. ECLAC
reports that the necessity of moving online has helped
to generate greater trust in online transactions, with a
high proportion of respondents to one survey in five
countries indicating early in the crisis that they would
continue to use them even when normal retail activity
has resumed.

Evidence from Brazil and other countries shows that

there has also been substantial growth in enrolment
for digital entertainment services, particularly music
and video streaming, and for distance learning, as well
as participation in online gaming.

As noted above, many of the challenges facing the substituting for much international travel.
world in terms of global economic development,
Three groups of countries are of particular concern
the COVID-19 pandemic and the development
to partners in the eTrade for all initiative: LDCs,
of e-commerce are broadly consistent across
landlocked transition and developing countries, and
regions. Important differences do arise from
Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
economic characteristics, digital environments and
developmental status. LDCs are inherently more vulnerable to crisis than
other countries. A high proportion of their citizens
There are strong similarities, for instance, in
live in poverty, rely on informal or unstable work for
the e-commerce environments of developed
income and have limited access to resources that
economies in the OECD, irrespective of geography.
can help them through sudden downturns. That
These economies have very high levels of Internet
high proportion also substantially lacks access to the
adoption and had already experienced extensive
Internet and experience of online shopping. Retail
participation in e-shopping before the pandemic,
markets for the poor majority are not geared to serve
with well-established distribution networks. High
them digitally. Postal services are under-resourced
average income levels, welfare safety nets and
(though informal delivery services may be quite well-
economic interventions to sustain livelihoods during
developed in consequence).
lockdowns have sustained purchasing power and
thereby supported online shopping. Postal and Although all are characterized by low average
direct delivery services were also well-established, incomes per head, LDCs are also diverse, ranging
though capacity shortages in supermarket home from high-population countries such as Bangladesh
delivery services have caused problems with delivery and Ethiopia, in which there are dynamic digital
of essentials such as groceries during the pandemic. sectors, to large landlocked countries in Sub-Saharan
Africa such as Chad and Niger, and small island states
Developing countries that are highly dependent on
such as some in the Pacific that are heavily dependent
commodities (such as oil) or tourism, which have little
on tourism. These have different economic
scope for diversification at short notice, have faced
characteristics and different potential within the
particular challenges during the pandemic, equally
digital economy. They have also experienced different
irrespective of geography. Demand for commodities
levels of infection during the pandemic. The eTrade for
(particularly oil) has fallen worldwide as movement
all partnership has undertaken 25 rapid e-commerce
restrictions have reduced road travel and many
readiness assessments in LDCs during the past four
factories have suspended or reduced production.
years, which have helped to identify seven critical
International tourism and business travel have also
areas in which deficiencies inhibit the development
been dramatically reduced, with teleconferencing

eTrade for all 49

 of e-commerce. The pandemic experience has change.197 Some, especially in the Pacific, are remote.
reinforced the importance of addressing these This has helped protect some of these countries
challenges, which form the framework for analysis in from direct effects of the pandemic on citizens’
CHAPTER 3. health – Pacific islands, for example, have generally
experienced low infection rates to date, whereas
The economies of landlocked countries, including
those in the Caribbean have been high – but indirect
many LDCs and transition economies in Central Asia,
effects on their economies have been severe. Most
are particularly hampered by geography. Some are
rely on imports to meet local demand and have
highly dependent on exports of a few commodities
been hard pressed to manage shortages (and rising
to few markets.195 At the best of times their trade
costs) resulting from reduced air and sea transport.
routes are restricted, reliant on air transport for
Many are heavily dependent on tourism, with some
higher value goods and on road, rail and port
deriving as much as 70 per cent of GDP from this
corridors through adjacent countries for exporting
source, which has been drastically reduced during
commodities. These trade routes have been curtailed
the pandemic, leaving many people out of work and
in the pandemic. Passenger flights, which carry
struggling to pay for essentials. Remittances, another
many small consignments, have been drastically
important source of revenue, have also fallen sharply
reduced (though some passenger airplanes have
during the pandemic as migrant workers have lost
been redeployed to carry freight). Land borders have
jobs in other countries.198
been closed in some cases, and subject to stricter
regulations in most, causing delays, raising trade The experience of these countries poses additional
costs and inhibiting commerce, including goods that challenges to those faced by all countries during the
have been digitally ordered. pandemic: challenges that are considered next in
CHAPTER 3.
Small Island Developing States are also hampered
by geography.196 They generally rely heavily on
international trade and imported foods and are
vulnerable to natural disasters and to climate

50 A GLOBAL REVIEW
NOTES
34 Kumar, Chakradhar and Balchin, 2020.

35 OECD, WTO and IMF, 2020.

36 UNCTAD, 2019b.

37 See: https://www.emarketer.com/content/global-e-commerce-2019 and

https://www.emarketer.com/content/global-e-commerce-2020.

38 UNCTAD, 2020p.`

39 The latest edition, for 2020, is UNCTAD, 2020r, available at: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/tn_
unc tad_ict4d17_en.pdf.

40 See: https://govdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/h10d190b9?country=BRA&indicator=24709&viz=bar_chart&
years=2013.

41 UNCTAD, 2020r.

42 See Our World in Data website: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/rate-of-daily-new-confirmed-cases-of-covid-19-

positive-rate?yScale=linear&zoomToSelection=true&time=earliest..latest&country=BOL~DEU~JPN~KOR~ZAF~N
ZL~RUS~IND~GBR~ARE~USA.

43 Seetharam, 2020.

44 Chatham House, 2018.

45 Ibid.

46 For example, ESCAP, 2019b, 2019c, 2019d, 2019e.

47 Calculated from UN, 2020e.

48 UNECA, 2021. See: https://repository.uneca.org/bitstream/handle/10855/43756/b11983206.pdf?sequence=1&isAl

lowed= y.

49 World Bank, 2020d; Hoi, Dutz and Usman, 2020.

50 For example, OECD, 2020a.

51 Labour markets that are characterised by independent contracting that happens through, via and on digital platforms’,
Woodcock and Graham, 2019.

52 ILO, 2017.

53 UNCTAD, 2020f.

54 World Bank, 2020c.

55 ECLAC, 2021.

56 IMF, 2020e.

57 Euronews, 2020.

58 For example, UN FAO, 2020; Shen, 2020; Sherzad, 2020; World Bank, 2020b; Hackshaw, 2020.

59 ILO, 2020.

60 World Bank, 2020f

61 UN SG, 2020; UN, 2020b.

62 UN SG, 2020; UN, 2020b.

63 ESCWA, 2021.

64 See: https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responses-to-COVID-19.

65 OECD, 2020e; UNECE, 2020b.

66 World Bank, 2020f.

67 UN GA, 2015.

68 UN GA, 2015.

69 See: for example, the Nairobi Maafikiano declaration of UNCTAD (2016):

https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/td519add2_en.pdf.

70 ECLAC, 2020b.

71 ITC, 2020a.

eTrade for all 51

 72 WTO, 2019.

73 WTO, 2020k; Gathii and Gaitha, 2020.

74 For example, Ahmed, 2020.

75 ITC, 2020a.

76 Information from UNCTAD; publication forthcoming.

77 IMF, 2020c; UNIDO, 2020.

78 UPU, 2020b.

79 IATA, 2020, cited in UNECE, 2020a.

80 See: https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres20_e/pr855_e.htm#:~:text=World%20merchandise%20trade%20is%20
set,effectiveness%20of%20the%20policy%20responses.
81 ITC, 2020a.
82 Ibid.

83 ECLAC, 2020b.
84 WTO, 2020k.
85 UPU, 2020b.
86 WTO, 2020l.
87 See: WTO, 2020i, 2020j.
88 See: Internet Society, 2019.

89 UN, 2020d.

90 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

91 Ibid.

92 See: https://blogs.afdb.org/investing-gender/women-informal-cross-border-trade-sub-saharan-africa-untapped-po
tential-feed#:~:text=Despite%20these%20challenges%2C%20hundreds%20of,(SADC)%20region%20are%20women.

93 Ibid.

94 IADB, 2020a.

95 See: IMF, 2020b.

96 For example, ERIA, 2020b.

97 UN, 2020d.

98 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

99 See: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2019/ITU_Key_2005-2019_ICT_data_with%20
LDCs_28Oct2019_Final.xls.

100 Ibid

101 GSMA, 2019a.

102 For example, ITU, 2020a.

103 For example, ITU and UNESCO, 2019.

104 For example, Gillwald and Mothobi, 2019.

105 Mothobi, Gillwald and Aguera 2019.

106 ERIA, 2020c.

107 UNCTAD, 2020b.

108 Alexander, 2020.

109 Pimentel, 2020; Mungadze, 2020.

110 WEF, 2020a.

111 UNCTAD, 2020q.

112 Davis, 2020.

113 UNECA, 2021.

114 Alexander, 2020.

52 A GLOBAL REVIEW
115 ITU, 2020c.

116 Ibid.

117 UNCTAD, 2018a.

118 For example, RBC Wealth Management, 2020.

119 UNCTAD, 2018a.

120 Ibid.

121 Copenhagen Economics, 2013.

122 For example, WTO, 2020e.

123 Lesser and Moisé-Leeman, 2009.

124 See: https://corporate.jd.com/ourHistory.

125 UNCTAD, 2019g.

126 European Commission, 2020a.

127 UNCTAD, 2019b.

128 UNECE, 2021, derived from E-Commerce Foundation, Global Report 2019.

129 Relevant country-based data can be found at: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/tn_unctad_ict4d14_

en.pdf

130 UNCTAD, 2019g.

131 Ibid.

132 UNCTAD, 2019b.

133 See: https://www.statista.com/statistics/955796/global-amazon-e-commerce-market-share/.
134 See: https://www.statista.com/statistics/880212/sales-share-of-the-leading-e-commerce-retailers-in-china/.
135 Information from ESCAP.
136 See: https://import-export.societegenerale.fr/en/country/saudi-arabia/e-commerce?accepter_cookies=oui.
137 For example, WTO, 2020b, 2020d.
138 WTO, 2020c.
139 UNECA, 2020.
140 ECLAC, 2020b.
141 UNECE, 2020a.
142 ESCWA, 2020b.

143 ECLAC, 2020b.

144 McKinsey, 2020b.

145 ITU, 2020c.

146 ECLAC, 2020c.

147 UNCTAD and NetComm Suisse, 2020.

148 CETIC.br, 2020.

149 UNECA, 2021.

150 UNECA, 2021.

151 ITU, 2020c.

152 ECLAC, 2021; Rojas, 2020.

153 CGI, 2020.

154 UNECA, 2021

155 Abril, 2020..

156 Air Transport Bureau, 2020.

157 O’Hare, 2020.

158 Information from ESCAP.

eTrade for all 53

 159 BBC, 2020.

160 ECLAC, 2020c.

161 UNECA, 2021.

162 ECLAC, 2021.

163 OECD, 2020b.

164 Ibid.

165 Ibid.

166 Official Information Source of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2020.

167 Bain & Company, 2020.

168 Kang, 2020.

169 See Statista: https://import-export.societegenerale.fr/en/country/saudi-arabia/e-commerce?accepter_cookies=oui.

170 ECLAC, 2021; Bravo Tejeda, 2020.

171 ESCWA, 2021.

172 UNECE, 2021.

173 UNCTAD, 2020b.

174 For example, ODI and African Trade Policy Centre, 2020.

175 UNCTAD and Netcomm Suisse, 2020.

176 UNCTAD, 2020b.

177 Countries with e-businesses represented in the survey were: Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire (non-LDC), Mad
agascar, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia (non-LDC), Uganda, Zambia; Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal; Pacific: Kiribati, Samoa (non-LDC), Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

178 For example, Cohen, 2020; Dannenberg, Fuchs, Riedler and Wiedemann. 2020.

179 See: https://tdv.motc.gov.qa/e-commerce-in-qatar.

180 WTO, 2020a.

181 UNECE, 2021.

182 UNECA, 2021; UNECE, 2021; ECLAC, 2021, ESCWA, 2021.

183 For example, African Development Bank, 2020a; 2019; CUTS International, 2020.

184 Also see Ismail, 2020; Khan and Ismail, 2020; UNECA and UNCTAD, 2019.

185 UNECA, 2021.

186 ESCWA, 2020a.

187 Bain & Co, 2019.

188 ESCWA, 2021.

189 UNECE, 2021.

190 See: ESCAP, 2020g, 2020h; Kang, 2020; Kathuria, Grover, Perego, Mattoo and Banerjee, 2020; Loh, 2020; Shen, 2020; UN,
2020c; UNDP, 2020; World Bank, 2020b; AsiaHouse, 2020; Bain & Co, 2020; BCG, 2020.
191 For example, Gaitan, 2020; WTO, 2020.

192 ECLAC, 2021.

193 Daily updates regarding the pandemic can be found at: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?utm_cam
paign=homeAdvegas1?.

194 For example, Gao, Shi, Guo and Liu, 2020; GlobalData, 2020.

195 For example, Turkmenistan, see: https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=129_129634-ujyjsqu30i&title=COVID-19-cri

sis-response-in-central-asia.

196 UN FAO, 2020.

197 Jagannath and Narasimhan, 2020; Narasimhan and Cisse, 2020.

198 UNCDF, 2020c; UNDESA, 2020b; World Bank and KNOMAD, 2020.

54 A GLOBAL REVIEW
eTrade for all 55
3

CHALLENGES,
RESPONSES AND
STRATEGIES FOR
RECOVERY

56 A GLOBAL REVIEW
T
he analysis in CHAPTER 2 has shown that, alongside opportunities for
growth in e-commerce, the pandemic has clarified important barriers to
that growth. These challenges are not new, in most cases, but manifest
long-standing problems that have affected prospects for e-commerce during
the past decade and more.

CHAPTER 3 has three main purposes.

1. I t summarizes challenges to the development of e-commerce and considers

how these have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. I t identifies some of the immediate and short-term responses that have

been made to these challenges, in light of the pandemic, by governments,
businesses and development partners up to the time of writing (November
2020).

3. It considers appropriate long-term responses to both these challenges and

recovery from the pandemic.

eTrade for all 57

 Overview

The e-Trade for all initiative is concerned primarily with
developing countries and LDCs, and the analysis that
follows, therefore, also concerns them in particular.
However, their integration into global e-commerce
is also affected by developments in other countries
that represent important export markets and where
global digital platforms are based that are important
to their e-commerce development.
The eTrade for all initiative is predicated on the
understanding that e-commerce will be a driver of
economic growth, inclusive trade, and job creation
across the developing world, especially in low-income
countries, and will be a catalyst for the movement
of MSMEs from informal to formal and domestic to
international markets. For this to happen, all countries
need to prepare for continued growth in the volume
and value of e-commerce and develop appropriate
policies to deal with associated opportunities and
challenges. This is particularly important for those
countries that are currently lagging in readiness.
Improvements are required in ICT and transport
connectivity, legal and regulatory frameworks, and
other aspects of e-commerce.

E-commerce challenges

The initiative’s research, including rapid e-commerce readiness assessments that have been completed in 27
countries, including 19 LDCs, has identified seven critical challenges to the development of e-commerce that
need to be addressed in order to leverage potential gains and reduce the risk of being left behind. These are
concerned with:

E-commerce readiness assessments

Legal and regulatory frameworks
and strategy formulation

ICT infrastructure and services E-commerce skills development

Trade logistics and trade facilitation Access to financing for e-commerce

Payment solutions

58 A GLOBAL REVIEW
This chapter considers these seven themes, together
with issues arising from a further, cross-cutting,
theme of the eTrade for all initiative, the empowerment
of women entrepreneurs whose role in enterprise
development has been historically undervalued and
undersupported.
Each section of the chapter begins with a brief
summary of the theme in question and then looks
in turn at:
1. the principal pre-COVID challenges as these have
been identified by the eTrade for all initiative and
its partner organizations;
2. how these – and requirements to address them –
have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis
3. 
examples of responses to these challenges by
governments, businesses and development
partners; and
Business and government responses
Businesses have responded in different ways to the
pandemic, some more successfully than others,
according to the sectors in which they operate and
the business models they deploy. Some have made
substantial gains in both business volume and sales
revenue during the pandemic, while others have
struggled to survive. Some businesses – particularly
communications network operators and digital
platforms – have played important roles that have
influenced the opportunities available to others
seeking to profit from e-commerce or to use it in
order to mitigate losses arising from traditional
business models.
Most governments have taken steps to address
the challenges facing businesses in the pandemic,
including the e-commerce challenges identified
above, though these have not necessarily been
well-coordinated. These measures have included
general support for businesses (and workforces)
distressed by the pandemic, such as the furlough
and wage/salary support schemes deployed in many
developed countries. In Switzerland, for example, the
government instituted compensation schemes for
employees of companies that were required to close
4. appropriate approaches for lasting recovery
from the pandemic and enhancement of national
e-commerce environments.
While all countries need to address these challenges,
differences can be clearly discerned among them
as the result of differences in national contexts,
including existing e-commerce experience. The
COVID-19 pandemic has intersected, in its impact on
e-commerce, with each of the challenges identified,
again with differences reflecting national contexts
including the varying trajectory and intensity of
the pandemic. OECD countries, for instance, have
generally had stronger and more resilient pre-
pandemic e-commerce ecosystems than developing
countries; while countries in East Asia experienced
earlier infection but have suffered less severely from
the pandemic in the latter half of 2020 than European
countries that are experiencing a second wave of
infections.
their operations, as well as rent reductions and other
measures to support those experiencing hardship as
a result of the pandemic.199
Governments in developing countries have also
intervened to protect business and individual
incomes. The Argentina government, for example,
has announced measures to support workers and
poorer social groups through social security and
unemployment benefits and payments to those at
minimum wage.200 The government of Cabo Verde
has spent over one per cent of GDP, with assistance
from the World Bank, on a variety of interventions
including income compensation for people in the
informal sector and interest-free loans to vulnerable
households.201
Some governments have sought to stimulate sectors
that have been badly hit, such as hospitality. The
United Kingdom government, for instance, initiated
an ‘eat out to help out’ scheme to encourage people
back to restaurants after its initial lockdown ended
(though concerns have since arisen that this may have
facilitated a subsequent rise in infection rates).202
North African food-tech businesses reported to
eTrade for all 59
 UNECA that the growth (of some 20 per cent) that
they have seen in transaction volumes during the
pandemic has resulted partly from redirection
of potential customers towards their websites in
response to movement restrictions and associated
guidelines.203
ECLAC has summarized the overall experience of
government intervention in its region thus:
varying degrees and with heterogenous capacity to
respond, governments … have supported firms and
consumers to strengthen business continuity and
resilience, ensuring digital and physical connectivity,
increasing the availability of digital tools, and
fostering the uptake of digital technologies, the
adoption of new working and business practices, and
the development of digital skills and abilities’.204
Experience during the pandemic has, therefore,
emphasized the importance of addressing barriers
and realizing opportunities in e-commerce that had
previously been identified by UNCTAD and its eTrade
for all partners, rather than fundamentally changing
those parameters. Few previously undetected
challenges have been identified, but the pandemic
has added nuance and urgency in businesses and
governments concerning those that need attention
and raised greater awareness of why that is so
important.
The road towards recovery
The aim of developing strategies for recovery from
the pandemic, in e-commerce and more generally, is
not simply to return to the status quo that prevailed
beforehand but to ‘build back better’. As the United
Nations Secretary-General has put it, ‘We simply
cannot return to where we were before COVID-19
struck, with societies unnecessarily vulnerable to
crisis’.205 As well as considering what governments
and businesses have done so far, therefore, this
chapter also reflects on longer-term initiatives that
have begun or could be undertaken in order to
leverage more lasting gains.
Strategies for recovery, the evidence suggests,
should build on prior experience and understanding
of the role of e-commerce in development as a
driver of economic growth, inclusive trade and job
60 A GLOBAL REVIEW
creation that can enhance both economic prosperity
and social welfare. Some regions could benefit
particularly strongly from an upturn in e-commerce
within international trade. As noted in the previous
chapter, for instance, Africa has lower levels of intra-
regional trade than other parts of the world and is
therefore economically more dependent on global
export markets. Diversification through e-commerce
‘To
associated with more relaxed and more efficient
border infrastructure, as well as regulatory changes
like de minimis tariff exemptions (see SECTION D),
could encourage local production and cross-border
trade, adding to domestic revenue and supporting
employment in sectors responsible for producing
newly traded goods. It could achieve better results
for African development than would follow a return
to where things stood before the crisis.
While all regions have experienced similar challenges,
some significant differences are evident, reflecting
differences in development status and other national
characteristics. ECLAC suggests that Latin America
and the Caribbean face stronger obstacles to
regional integration than most regions, for a variety
of geographic regions, including small island status
in the Caribbean and inaccessible terrain in central
South America. 206Survey research reported by ESCWA
suggests that, in the eyes of a substantial majority of
survey respondents, cultural barriers are the most
significant obstacle to adoption of e-commerce in
the Arab states – though a majority also complained
of legal barriers, lack of payment tools and limited
engagement with e-commerce by merchants.
Many respondents to ESCWA research also felt that
the lack of data in the region limited merchants’
understanding of potential markets and, thereby,
propensity to risk engaging in e-commerce.207
Plans for recovery should build on experience
both before and during the pandemic. Enterprises,
including MSMEs, have increasingly interacted
digitally for some years, among themselves as well
as with governments and consumers, but this trend
has accelerated during the crisis. Requirements for
physical distancing, for example, have led to the
growth and intensification of digital interaction,
from online shopping for goods, through online
consultations with professionals such as doctors and
lawyers, to online entertainments such as concerts
and theatrical performances, and extensive use of
teleconferencing and distance learning. The crisis
has thereby accelerated the reach of domestic
e-commerce towards new types of firms and
products, seen greater adoption by new consumer
segments (for instance, older people and people
further down the income scale), encouraged the
launch of new e-commerce platforms, and increased
adoption of online payment platforms.
In particular there appears to have been a shift
inspired by movement constraints, towards greater
online shopping for essentials such as food and
groceries as opposed to more occasional purchases
and luxuries.208 Online food sales in China during
the first three months of 2020 grew year on year by
32.7 per cent, compared with growth in e-commerce
across all categories of 5.9 per cent and a fall in total
retail spending of 19 per cent.209 Over 40 per cent of
digital customers in South East Asia are reported to
be spending more on fresh and packaged groceries
online, and four-fifths of these report that they
expect to continue doing so. 210
It is unclear how far changes in consumer behaviour
that have been seen during the pandemic will
become permanent when it recedes. Many – not
just e-commerce businesses – hope that the gains in
market share that have been made by e-commerce
within international and domestic trade will be
sustained, not least because of the risk that the
pandemic will recur or prove precursor to further
epidemics in the future.211 Others, however, warn that
while the pandemic might have opened a window
of opportunity for new forms of e-commerce, the
longevity of sudden changes is uncertain.
In practice, many employers, as well as employees,
say that they are considering blended future home
and office working rather than returning full-
time to offices in city centres. The use of online
entertainment services also seems likely to sustain
higher usage levels than before the pandemic,
which has encouraged many people to overcome
the initial (cost and inertia) barriers associated with
subscription.
Intentions are evident from a number of consumer
surveys.
• More than half of those interviewed in UNCTAD’s
consumer survey in nine countries said that
they expected to continue shopping more often
online after the pandemic, while over 40 per cent
said that they would spend more time on digital
entertainment sites.212
• A study by the management consultancy Bain
found that over 80 per cent of those shopping
online in South East Asia thought they would
continue to spend more online after the
pandemic.213
• A
 survey by Global Data found that 28 per cent
of its informants in India said they now prefer
online to physical shopping.214
• More than 40 per cent of customers surveyed in
four large African countries said that they plan
to reduce their supermarket shopping in future,
shifting some food purchases online alongside
clothing and electronic products.215
The trajectory of recovery, which is likely to be gradual
and perhaps spasmodic, could well encourage these
trends. E-commerce platforms seem likely to retain
many, though probably not all, of the gains in market
share made during the pandemic vis-à-vis offline
sales.
The ability to leverage e-commerce therefore
presents a significant opportunity for governments
and businesses to build on the experience of crisis in
order to accelerate recovery. As past research for the
eTrade for all initiative has shown however, significant
deficiencies and challenges pose barriers to those
seeking to take that opportunity. Many businesses
and consumers in developing regions have yet
to start using the Internet, let alone participate
in e-commerce. Enabling e-commerce requires
changes in public policy and business practice – to
improve digital and trading infrastructure, facilitate
digital payments and establish appropriate legal and
regulatory frameworks for online transactions and
security.216 Measures to address these will encourage
shifts in business practice and consumer behaviour
where e-commerce offers economic and social
benefits in different markets, but decisions need to
be taken to enact them. Once enacted, they will take
time to implement, enforce and have an impact.
Government interventions in e-commerce markets
have varied during the crisis. Many governments
have been preoccupied with measures to address
immediate economic impacts, prioritizing short-
eTrade for all 61
 term palliative measures rather than addressing
underlying long-term challenges. In its regional
report, ECLAC regrets that ‘despite commendable
efforts to strengthen economic resilience during the
pandemic and emerging best practices implemented
in some countries, very few countries appear to
have taken the crisis as an opportunity to reassess
structural policy priorities effectively and take
concerted actions to advance on a consistent, long-
term, sustainable e-commerce strategy that can put
digital trade at the forefront of economic recovery
in a post-pandemic scenario’. It urges governments
not to ‘let the crisis go to waste’ but take it as an
opportunity to learn and work together on a regional
basis.217
62 A GLOBAL REVIEW
At the time that this report was written (November
2020), the pandemic has been ongoing, and indeed
appears to be accelerating in much of the world. Its
future trajectory remains uncertain. The latest news
concerning vaccine development is promising but it
is unclear whether or when vaccines, cures and/or
therapeutic medicines will enable a return to pre-
pandemic social and economic life. It is not possible,
therefore, to draw a clear line between responses
to the crisis and policies that focus on recovery.
Nevertheless, this chapter uses the policy themes
explored in each of its sub-sections to consider
approaches to e-commerce that can help to lay the
ground for longer-term recover. These are illustrated,
where appropriate, with instances from initiatives
that are already underway.
eTrade for all 63
 E-COMMERCE READINESS ASSESSMENT
AND STRATEGY FORMULATION

Main
Messages

The need for eTrade Readiness Assessments and strategy formulation in enabling
recovery has been intensified by the pandemic. Countries in which governments are
well-informed about e-commerce and have coherent strategies in place have been
able to respond to the sector’s needs more quickly and effectively. This will be as
true after the pandemic as it is during the crisis. A large number of eTrade for all
partners already offer assistance in this area. In light of the analysis in CHAPTER 3,
governments should focus on:

• Systematic data gathering and evaluation of the impact of policies and business
practices;

• Identification of critical gaps requiring intervention;

• Establishing/developing strategies for e-commerce that are integrated into

broader national development and implemented through coherent governance
structures;

• Strengthening interministerial and interdepartmental dialogue for effective

coordination;

• Fostering dialogue between government, businesses and business associations

(on both demand and supply sides of e-commerce) and consumer representatives;
and

• Facilitating public/private collaboration to build awareness and trust in

e-commerce among merchants and consumers.

64 A GLOBAL REVIEW
SECTION A
E-COMMERCE READINESS
ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY
FORMULATION

SUMMARY

Governments that have a better evidence-based
understanding of e-readiness and have put in
place coherent cross-government strategies for its
development have positioned their countries to take
more effective advantage of e-commerce before and
during the pandemic. The pandemic has reinforced
this. Many developing countries did not have such
assessments and strategies in place before the crisis.
As Figure 3.1 illustrates, this has been identified in a
recent UNCTAD survey of e-commerce businesses in
24 countries, including 19 LDCs, as the most critical
area for improvement arising from experience of the
current crisis.218

Figure 3.1
The most important measures taken during COVID-19 (UNCTAD survey of e-businesses)

Most governments have prioritized short-term palliative interventions in this area during the pandemic, but
some have also begun to address longer-term strategic requirements for recovery.

eTrade for all 65

 THE CHALLENGE
Experience worldwide has shown that e-commerce along these lines have been unevenly distributed
develops and thrives best in an enabling environment around the world, however. They are more common
that is facilitated by a coherent policy framework built in developed than developing countries. Only half of
on thorough understanding of economic activity and the 18 countries surveyed by ECLAC for this project,
government commitment to support innovation for instance, had a national e-commerce strategy
and enterprise. 219
Governments that have taken before the pandemic – most with a coordinating body
strategic approaches to e-commerce have seen it across government, though the quality and scope of
make a greater contribution to national growth. these varies considerably.222
Effective strategic approaches, integrating measures
The eTrade Readiness Assessments that have been
designed to address the other challenges explored
undertaken by UNCTAD and its eTrade for all partners
in this chapter and deployed across government
have encouraged progress towards the development
as a whole, encourage new business development
of national strategies in many of the countries
and enable economic growth. National strategies
concerned and have illustrated how governments
for e-commerce should also be consistent with
can engage in public-private dialogue, collecting
and integrated into broader national development
information from MSMEs and consulting businesses
programmes, taking into account regional
as strategy development proceeds. A recent review
agreements and frameworks.
of these assessments and subsequent policy
The eTrade Readiness Assessments that have been responses has revealed how they are providing
undertaken by UNCTAD in conjunction with its eTrade useful tools not just for individual countries but also
for all partners, have found that many countries for regional groupings as these seek to improve
lack a unifying vision for e-commerce. 220
While their understanding of e-commerce ecosystems
policymakers recognize the benefits of e-commerce, - especially where cross-border e-commerce and
overall understanding of requirements for successful its role in reinforcing regional integration are
policymaking and business planning is uneven and concerned.223
data on the national business environment as a
whole are often inadequate. Policies for e-commerce,
where they have been agreed, are frequently diluted
within broader programmes for ICTs or the digital
economy. Responsibilities for e-commerce are shared
across a range of ministries and task groups, which
may operate in silos with insufficient collaboration
and limited resources. These weaknesses have
undermined the capacity of governments and
businesses to expand e-commerce in response to
the pandemic.

The most effective strategies for e-commerce

are built on comprehensive assessments of the
national business environment that identify critical
gaps requiring intervention. Such assessments
need to be built on reliable data that are gathered
frequently, enabling analysis of trends, and to have
sufficient granularity to permit disaggregation
between different sectors and types of business.
They facilitate inclusive consultation and dialogue
with businesses and other stakeholders, which help
to develop robust strategies and implementation
plans.221 Assessments and strategy development

66 A GLOBAL REVIEW
THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC AND POLICY RESPONSES
The pandemic has reinforced the value of eTrade
Readiness Assessments and coherent strategies
that enable governments and businesses to respond
quickly and appropriately to opportunities and risks.
Governments that have prioritized e-commerce
development through coherent strategies have been
able to respond to the e-commerce sector’s needs
more quickly and effectively, amending regulations
with greater confidence and expedition, and have
seemed more capable of managing appropriate
responses coherently across government
departments.
It is more difficult to introduce major strategic
changes in crisis conditions than under normal
circumstances. Most governments have,
understandably, been preoccupied with short-term
responses to the pandemic rather than addressing
long-term strategies for change. Where reforms
have been introduced, therefore, they have often
been short-term palliative measures addressing
immediate requirements.
There has been some progress towards longer-
term strategic changes in some countries however,
particularly if this was already underway before
the pandemic struck. Where there was already ‘a
clear, consistent, and coordinated strategy’, ECLAC
has noted in Latin America and the Caribbean, the
pandemic has facilitated progress, with governments
and private sector stakeholders more able to settle
TOWARDS RECOVERY
The role of eTrade Readiness Assessments and
strategy formulation in enabling recovery has been
intensified by the pandemic. Five aspects of this
would seem to be especially important and form an
appropriate framework for strategic thinking within
governments.
• Experience during the pandemic has
emphasized the critical importance of strategic
governance for e-commerce – coordinating
public policy interventions for infrastructure,
regulation, finance and business development
across government, and enabling coherent
priorities to be agreed and implemented.
Plans for e-commerce should be integrated
on ‘common and well-defined goals’. In other cases, it
regrets that ‘an effective strategy is not apparent and
policies seem uncoordinated, the result of urgency
and the need to respond to the emergency, which
casts doubt on their potential to generate effective
long-term changes and reform’.224
Three countries in Latin America have told ECLAC
that they have begun to develop e-commerce
strategies in response to the pandemic, though
the scope of these may be limited. Argentina’s
response, for example, ‘amounts to promoting
platforms and providing information, training, and
technical assistance for SMEs to enhance their
online presence’. In Colombia, an ongoing process
to develop strategic responses was accelerated,
with a draft National Policy of Electronic Commerce,
whose goals include institutional improvements,
released for comment in August 2020.225 Costa Rica’s
government has outlined a coordinated strategy for
the e-commerce environment including the postal
service, digital government, digital platforms, and
digitalization of MSMEs. Development of Cambodia’s
national e-commerce strategy was also continued
during the crisis, and successfully launched in July
2020, while226 the ECE reports that the governments
of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have progressed
initiatives to facilitate digital technologies and online
trading during the year.227
into broader national development strategies,
championed by political and business
leaders, and implemented through coherent
governance structures. This is valuable even
where e-commerce participation is currently
at low levels, for example in Myanmar, where
strengthening e-commerce has been prioritized
within the national COVID-19 Economic Relief
Plan.228
• Strategies have limited value, however, if they
are not rooted in a thorough understanding
of what is happening on the ground. The
pandemic has illustrated the importance of
accurate and reliable evidence for formulating
eTrade for all 67
 policy and responding to opportunities and risks
as they arise. Data sets need to be gathered
automatically or regularly and their analysis
frequently updated to enable adjustments that
respond to rapid changes, such as those that
have occurred in e-commerce markets during
the crisis. Systematic data gathering, rigorous
evaluation of the impact of policies and changing
business practices, and rapid intervention to
help businesses address barriers and seize
opportunities are prerequisites for added value.
Improved understanding of the environment for
e-commerce will enable governments to undertake
a critical gap analysis, identifying missing elements
for strategic development that need to be addressed,
across the range of themes identified explored within
this chapter, in order to remove barriers and leverage
opportunities. While the challenges identified are
common to many countries, different weaknesses will
be more or less important in different ecosystems for
e-commerce, requiring different priorities.
• Experience shows that successful strategies
build on dialogue and cooperation between
governments and other stakeholders, particularly
private sector businesses that are seeking
to implement e-commerce in domestic and
international markets. Public-private dialogue
for e-commerce needs to balance business and
consumer needs, as well as recognize that there
are diverse business interests within e-commerce,
ranging from international corporations to local
start-ups and including businesses that find it
easy to embrace e-commerce as well as those
that find it much more challenging. Different
68 A GLOBAL REVIEW
retail and service sectors, from those concerned
with essential goods such as groceries to those
in online entertainment, as well as different
business models, such as those focused on
exports or on domestic markets, need to be
included. Public-private dialogues along these
lines are now reported to be regularly held
in Rwanda, for example, aimed at improving
understanding of challenges and opportunities
for e-commerce in different sectors such as third-
party marketplaces, payments, warehousing and
logistics.229
• Expansion of e-commerce requires awareness
and trust. The latter will be built through the
experience gained by merchants and consumers,
not least during the pandemic, backed by a robust
and reliable legal and regulatory framework and
payment systems in which consumers can have
confidence (see SECTION C and SECTION E
below). Government and business can work
together to build awareness of potential benefits
for both merchants and consumers. In Tunisia,
for example, awareness-raising campaigns on
public radio have provided advice on safe online
shopping.230
ICT INFRASTRUCTURE
AND SERVICES

Main
Messages

Limitations in infrastructure and in services to support local e-commerce have been thrown
into greater relief by the pandemic. More bandwidth and improved quality and resilience
will facilitate international e-commerce. More universal and affordable broadband access
will encourage more people to shop and sell online. As with strategy development, this will
be as true after the pandemic as during the crisis. The eTrade for all partners, including the
World Bank Group, regional banks, and ITU can provide valuable assistance in this area.
Governments and network operators should focus on:

• Encouraging investment in international and domestic connectivity through

enabling regulatory frameworks, with particular attention to inclusion of areas
that are currently underserved (such as remote and rural areas);

• Investing in partnership, including public-private partnerships and partnerships

with international agencies, to improve network deployment in underserved and
potentially less profitable areas, to ensure progress towards universal broadband
access;

• Taking steps to reduce digital divides within countries, particularly the gender
digital divide, improve affordability of access for local consumers and ensure
that affordable access becomes available to all as recommended by the UN
Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development;

• Supporting information services, portals and e-commerce platforms that are

oriented towards local businesses’ and consumers’ needs.

eTrade for all 69

 SECTION B
ICT INFRASTRUCTURE
AND SERVICES

SUMMARY
Businesses and countries that have access to high-
speed, competitively priced international connectivity
are better placed to digitalize operations and win
orders overseas, while those in countries with
limited rollout of local broadband networks will have
more difficulty in establishing viable digital services
or building domestic markets for e-commerce.
Most developing countries have more limited ICT
infrastructure and services than developed countries,
with lower available international bandwidth and
substantial proportions of their populations offline
or making only limited use of relatively expensive
data.231
The pandemic has increased demand for international
and domestic bandwidth, hardware, and services
(particularly for homeworking and streaming).232This
has stretched network capacity, but in most countries
the networks have held up better than expected.
Some governments and businesses have intervened,
in a variety of ways, to alleviate short-term network
congestion, expand connectivity and reduce costs
for vulnerable users through price controls or tax
changes. Some have also begun to address long-
term infrastructure shortfalls by revising licensing
requirements or considering adjustments to
spectrum allocation.

THE CHALLENGE

E-commerce relies on infrastructure – not just that consideration include proposals for constellations of
for connectivity and data communications, but low earth orbit satellites.235
also transport, electrical power and the delivery of
Connectivity is a human issue as well as one of
goods and services. These need to be reliable and
infrastructure. Domestic e-commerce development
affordable. This section is concerned specifically with
is constrained by digital divides that leave many
the infrastructure for communications. In developing
people unconnected.236 Access to fixed and mobile
countries, relatively poor communications networks
broadband services is almost universal in developed
interact with other constraints, including poor
countries, though the extent of usage varies
transport and electricity and weak postal and financial
according to factors such as social background, age
networks, to inhibit the reach and profitability of
and income.237 As Figure 3.2 shows, access levels in
e-commerce.233
developing countries are much more variable, their
New international infrastructure, particularly variation broadly consistent with developmental
competitive undersea cable infrastructure, has status and income per head.
been improving the quality and lowering the cost
of connectivity between developing and developed
countries.234 New cable projects continue to be
deployed.234 Alternative, innovative approaches under

70 A GLOBAL REVIEW
 Figure 3.2
Connectivity by development status, ITU estimates, 2019238
Differences in connectivity and usage between
countries result from and reflect differences in
connectivity and usage within them.
• In many countries, substantial gaps exist between
connectivity in urban and rural communities.
According to the GSM Association (GSMA), rural
populations in lower and middle income countries
are 40 per cent less likely to use mobile Internet
than urban populations. Research ICT Africa and
LIRNEasia have found urban-rural differentials of 30
to 40 per cent in South Africa, Cambodia and Nepal,
rising to almost 80 per cent in some African LDCs.239
• The global gender digital divide is estimated to
be 17 per cent, a gap that rises to almost 43 per
cent in LDCs.240
• Access to and usage of the Internet are also
strongly correlated with levels of income and
educational attainment.241
Those who are not connected or poorly connected
cannot easily make use of digital services or engage
in online shopping as either sellers or buyers. Low
rates of digital engagement within societies are
therefore critical constraints on the development
of domestic e-commerce. Even where people are
connected, limited literacy, 242
low-capacity (e.g., 2G)
mobile telephones and lack of trust 243 in new modes
of commerce inhibit many potential customers from
shopping online. The growing prevalence of Internet-
capable smartphones,244however, is enabling more
individuals who can afford the necessary hardware
and data packages to shop online; this trend is likely
to accelerate.
Affordability is crucial to enabling access. The
Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development
recommends that governments and mobile network
operators (MNOs) aim to achieve entry-level
broadband services that cost less than two per cent
of GNI (Gross National Income) per capita.245 The
majority of lower- and middle-income countries fall
short of that target, including three quarters of those
in Sub-Saharan Africa. GSMA reports that data rates
in developing regions are most affordable in South
Asia, where they mostly fall within the Broadband
Commission’s target, but highest in Sub-Saharan
Africa. ITU reports that just ten African countries
have achieved the Broadband Commission target.246
These variations in the cost of data are reflected in
very different usage levels.
Infrastructural constraints appear to affect
merchants’ e-business participation rates even
in developed countries. In 2017, for instance, the
e-commerce participation rate for MSMEs in a
majority of OECD countries was less than half
that for large firms.247 Low levels of digitalization
and difficulties in accessing and adopting new
technologies make it more difficult and less cost-
effective for smaller firms to change work processes
eTrade for all 71
 or introduce e-shopping channels, which has reduced their flexibility in responding to the present crisis. 248
The growth of smartphone adoption should, however, increase customer numbers and potential returns
on investment in e-commerce platforms.
THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC
Internet traffic has grown substantially during the
pandemic. In Mexico, Brazil and Chile, for example,
traffic grew by 70, 80 and 170 per cent respectively
between February and March as the pandemic
struck. 249
Growth in demand was partly due to
increases in the number of users and the time they
spend online but substantially also to higher demand
for streaming services (for videoconferencing,
education and entertainment) which require greater
bandwidth. In Europe, for instance, substantial
numbers of people in all countries surveyed by
McKinsey indicated that they have increased the
range of digital channels that they access during the
pandemic.250In the United Kingdom, the proportion
of adults making video calls doubled, with more than
70 per cent doing so at least once a week and usage
of the popular videoconferencing app Zoom rising
from under 700,000 adults to more than 13 million.251
Increased reliance on digital communications has
stretched the capacity of network operators and
service providers and been particularly challenging
at a time when social distancing and movement
RESPONSES
Responses to these connectivity challenges have
come from both governments and communications
businesses. The ITU reports that these can be seen
in five main areas:
• increased broadband capacity;
• free services in areas such as education / distance
learning;
• the provision of information services related to
the pandemic;
• network management; and
• more flexible use of spectrum.254
The importance of ICT infrastructure, connectivity
and services to e-commerce has been reinforced by
72 A GLOBAL REVIEW
restrictions have made it difficult to maintain normal
operations. Although networks have held up better
than expected in most countries, with fewer outages
than might have been anticipated, it has encouraged
operators to consider ways of raising capacity and
improving resilience and service quality.
Evidence concerning demand for new mobile phone
connections is limited, though it seems likely that
there has been increased demand for new lines
and increased usage of existing lines. (Installation
of new lines is more difficult in lockdown because of
restrictions on working practice and staff shortages
arising from requirements for self-isolation.) Evidence
from Latin America shows significant numbers of
mobile subscribers beginning to use e-shopping
for the first time.252 The consultancy McKinsey has
suggested that new e-shoppers are driving more
than half the increase in online grocery shopping
in Brazil and South Africa.253 Comparable growth in
demand for streaming services has been described
in CHAPTER 2.
increased demand during the pandemic. Large scale
infrastructure investments take time to implement,
but network operators have sought to increase
capacity in response to this growth in demand. The
submarine cable operator MainOne, for instance, has
sought to raise capacity on its network in West Africa,
while the East African cable operator Seacom will add
1.7 terabits per second to its existing capacity of 3.2
TB/s.255 Projects for new cable infrastructure, already
announced in 2018, were advanced in Chile and
Argentina.256 Implementation of investments such as
these takes time and may not be completed during
the crisis.
Although most networks have proved more
resilient to increased demand than was expected,
users of many have experienced difficulties arising
from limited capacity and networks have needed
to manage shortfalls carefully. Other steps with
shorter response times, however, have been taken to
maintain services and reduce the risk of outages.
• European Union governments and regulators
have authorized telecom operators and Internet
service providers to take exceptional measures,
including reducing online speeds, to prevent
network congestion.257
• The Lebanese backbone operator OGERO
launched an awareness campaign urging users
to use their Internet connection responsibly,
for example by limiting the number of devices
connected simultaneously and reducing the
quality of videos on YouTube. It also added extra
capacity to handle upsurge in demand.258
Some governments and businesses have sought to
expand network coverage and capacity in the short
term, particularly for broadband.
• Qatar’s regulatory authority has worked with
operators to double the Internet speeds for
residential customers and the volume of data for
mobile customers, without additional cost.259
• The COVID-19 crisis has given increased impetus
to the Niger 2.0 Smart Villages project, supported
by the ITU, which has connected several dozen
villages with some 200 more in prospect.
• The government of the small island state Tuvalu
has installed satellite dishes in all its outer islands
to enhance connectivity, with education a special
focus.260
Some regulators, such as those in Jordan and Sudan,
261
have made additional spectrum temporarily
available in order to relieve network congestion.
Others have reached agreements with platforms
such as Netflix and YouTube to restrict the quality
of video-streaming services in order to reduce
network congestion. 262
Such measures may be
time-limited, partly to alleviate concerns that short-
term exceptional interventions may influence long-
term regulatory environments and reduce the
attractiveness of future infrastructure investment.
Some governments or regulators have also placed
additional requirements on operators. A number of
governments in Latin America have declared Internet
and mobile services to be essential or strategic
services – a change of status that obliges them to
maintain connectivity and that may last beyond
the current crisis.263 The government of Colombia
has relaxed and expedited licensing procedures
for new infrastructure.264 Other governments have
tabled regulatory mechanisms to alleviate network
congestion and so ensure continuity of services at
least for health and education, government and
business.
Some businesses and governments have acted to
make use of the Internet more affordable for lower-
income consumers, in ways that are likely to increase
propensity to shop online or encourage them to take
advantage of homeworking, home entertainment
and education access.
• Special discounts have been offered by mobile
and Internet providers in Mexico and other
countries.265 Telecommunications operators in
Nepal have offered a variety of cheaper data
packages and recharge bonuses.266
• The government of Argentina has frozen prices
until December 2020 and required government
approval for subsequent increases, while
Colombia’s government has eliminated VAT on
mobile plans below a threshold to cut the cost of
connectivity for low-income households.267
• The government of Kuwait has asked
communications operators to provide some
free Internet each day for a month during the
pandemic, while that in Oman has adopted
measures to avoid loss of service to customers
and businesses facing cashflow problems as the
result of the pandemic.268
• Three telecoms operators in Tunisia provided free
Internet access for distance education platforms
during the lockdown. Mobile operators in Lesotho
reduced costs for Internet access to educational
websites and content to help students studying
online.269
• Some governments, such as that in the United
Kingdom, have urged operators to work with
customers facing payment difficulties.270
eTrade for all 73
 THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
Limitations in ICT infrastructure and services
to support e-commerce have been thrown into
greater relief by the pandemic. Poor connectivity
undermines the ability of local businesses to access
international e-commerce markets, while limited
availability of locally focused e-commerce platforms
limits opportunities for local merchants to offer
consumers access to e-shopping opportunities that
are tailored to their needs. Faster connectivity and
improved quality and resilience, by contrast, will
facilitate e-commerce and encourage more people
to shop online.
If national businesses are to be competitive in
international e-commerce as countries recover from
the pandemic, they will need fast, reliable, high-
quality and high-capacity international connectivity,
at prices which at least match those available to
alternative suppliers. This is particularly important
for businesses reliant on cloud access,271 and those
selling into highly competitive markets.
Improved infrastructure needs to be available
nationwide in order to include businesses and
consumers based in smaller towns or rural areas
272
which are often more poorly connected than urban
centres. Domestic consumers will be more inclined
to try e-shopping if connectivity is affordable and
reliable – and will only be able to access streaming
services if adequate broadband is available at
reasonable cost in their communities.
The ECLAC report prepared for this project notes
that some governments in Latin America have
begun to address long-term connectivity challenges
for e-commerce by accelerating the deployment of
new infrastructure through funding mechanisms
and/or relaxation of licensing requirements. In
Colombia, for example, the government has issued
the first temporary permit to use spectrum to
test 5G technology, in association with Huawei.
The government of Argentina has progressed a
dedicated fund to guarantee mobile and Internet
connectivity in poorly served areas, and a number of
74 A GLOBAL REVIEW
LDCs in Africa have also begun initiatives to develop
5G networks.273
The critical access problems in LDCs at present,
however, concern access to 3G and 4G networks
rather than future 5G deployment. Addressing
these challenges in ways that enhance connectivity
and infrastructure requirements for e-commerce
in the medium term requires investment by
communications businesses within a regulatory
environment that encourages them to build capacity
and enable e-commerce services to thrive.
Returns on investment, particularly in rural areas, can
be commercially unattractive to established network
operators that are able to earn higher margins
elsewhere. Investment costs for ICT infrastructure
are considerable and may require supplementary
investment in supportive infrastructure, particularly
electricity. However, governments now have
considerable experience with financial incentives
and regulatory mechanisms to encourage
investment, including universality requirements
in communications licences, fiscal incentives to
enhance the viability of network deployment,
innovative approaches to spectrum management,
infrastructure sharing, and the deployment of
community networks in underserved communities.
Interventions along these lines need to address the
quality, reliability and resilience of networks as well
as quantity of bandwidth. Partnerships between
governments, the private sector and international
development partners may be required in some
cases, especially in LDCs and SIDS.
Improvements to connectivity alone are insufficient
to overcome the barriers inhibiting adoption of
e-commerce in domestic markets. If engagement
with e-commerce is to become widespread rather
than reserved for wealthier social groups, access
costs (for both hardware and data charges) need to
become low enough for them to be cost-effective for
lower-income groups.
As described above, some governments have taken make entry-level broadband services available at less
steps to address short-term affordability of Internet than two per cent of monthly GPD per capita, and
and e-commerce access during the pandemic. Long- associated measures to make Internet services more
term affordability issues should be addressed by accessible to all parts of national communities.
governments and network operators within evolving
national strategies for the digital economy, in the
context of the Broadband Commission’s target to

eTrade for all 75

 PAYMENTS

Main
Messages

The pandemic has demonstrated the value of digital and cashless payment
mechanisms in enabling transactions to be made at distance, although cash culture
is still prevalent in many countries, especially in LDCs. Increasing the acceptance and
adoption of cashless payments will hasten short-term recovery from the crisis and
lay the ground for stronger e-commerce in future. UNCDF, UPU and development
banks are among eTrade for all partners that can make valuable contributions in this
context. Governments and other stakeholders should focus on:

• Raising awareness of the benefits of digital transactions among merchants

and consumers;

• Establishing enabling financial and digital regulatory frameworks that

ensure ease of use and security for digital transactions, including measures
concerned with electronic transactions, cybersecurity and consumer
protection;

• Encouraging interoperability within a competitive banking environment, to

facilitate seamless interbank transfers, reduce friction in transactions and
lower costs;

• Simplifying digital transaction mechanisms (and lowering or reducing entry

costs) to incentivize adoption by those at lower income levels.

76 A GLOBAL REVIEW
SECTION C
PAYMENTS

SUMMARY
Digital payment systems are important facilitators Adoption of digital payments depends on a number
of both international and domestic e-commerce. of factors that can be addressed by policy and
Successful employment of them, however, business interventions, including changes in legal
requires appropriate regulatory environments and and regulatory frameworks for finance and digital
cooperation between governments and banks, transactions. Where adoption rates are high,
both domestically and internationally. Payment attention is required to ensure that digitalization by
mechanisms that are interoperable between default does not exclude some population groups.
currencies and banking systems are required for The most important factor inhibiting adoption,
international commerce. however, appears to be trust that transactions will be
secure, goods purchased will be delivered, and data
A number of digital payment mechanisms are gaining
will not be misused. Even in Europe, where digital
traction for domestic e-commerce transactions.
markets are highly developed, McKinsey reports that
Debit and credit cards are favoured in countries
18 per cent of consumers surveyed say that they do
where they are widely available, while PayPal and
not use digital channels because of lack of trust.274
other payment platforms are preferred in some
Cybersecurity, in particular, is crucial to enabling
countries. Use of bank transfers has grown during
trust in, and thereby greater use of, digital payments
the pandemic in Brazil. Mobile money is used to
infrastructure.
varying degrees in lower-income countries. Cash is
still preferred, however, by many consumers and cash
culture remains predominant in many developing
and transition countries.

THE CHALLENGE
The availability and adoption of digital payments banks in trading countries and established legal and
systems that function effectively with e-commerce regulatory frameworks governing digital transactions
platforms are important contributory factors in the (see section E).
spread of e-commerce. 275
International e-commerce
Such arrangements are still poorly implemented
is highly dependent on the ability of merchants
in many developing countries. ECLAC reports, for
to transfer funds quickly, reliably and at low
instance, that there is often poor cross-border
commission rates across international borders and
integration between digital payment systems in its
between currencies. This can be greatly facilitated
region.276
through trade facilitation mechanisms (such as
those described in SECTION D) but also requires The World Bank notes that digital financial services
cooperation between national and commercial have the potential to lower costs to service providers

eTrade for all 77

 by maximizing economies of scale, increasing speed,
security and transparency of transactions, and
allowing diversification of services in ways that can
attract consumers lower down the income scale.
Domestic B2C transactions can be conducted in
cash, through payment on collection or delivery, but
are greatly facilitated if digital payment mechanisms
are available and used. Cost savings also benefit
users of money transfer services. The average cost
of sending remittances – a vital source of funds for
many individuals and MSMEs in developing countries
– is estimated to be 3.3 per cent when these are sent
as digital transactions, compared with 6.8 per cent
when they are sent as cash.277
Three factors are important in enabling realization
of these potential benefits: financial inclusion,
the availability of digital payment channels, and
consumer confidence.
Recent data concerning ownership of bank and
other financial accounts suggest that 69 per cent
of adults now have accounts,278 but that figure
varies substantially, from 93 per cent in developed
countries to around the global average in Asia and
just 40 per cent in Africa.279 Less than half of adults in
many developing countries, therefore, have bank or
other formal financial accounts, while few have credit
cards. However, the growth of mobile money in
recent years – the number of which now exceeds one
billion worldwide280 – means that the total number
of adults worldwide without any financial account
is falling. Women and lower income groups are
overrepresented among those without accounts. The
World Bank has estimated that there is a persistent
seven per cent gender divide in ownership of bank
accounts. 281
Participants in the electronic payments sector in
Latin America agree that the biggest challenge they
face is lack of financial inclusion. Half of the region’s
population did not have a bank account or equivalent
in 2017, while more than half of employees work
informally and are most probably reliant on cash
income. Their inclusion is sometimes hampered
by complex and time-consuming regulations
governing the opening of accounts, for both offline
and online banking. In Latin America, for example,
ECLAC reports that, even where banks offer digital
onboarding, it can take up to four days to open an
account. 282
Many businesses are also ill-equipped to
handle digital transactions. According to OECD, for
instance, only 63 per cent of businesses surveyed
in the western Balkans region had access to digital
payment infrastructure in May 2020.283
Digital wallets – software systems that store
payment information, enabling expenditure through
authenticated devices such as mobile phones – are
used to varying degrees by citizens in many countries
and have become very popular in some, such as the
Republic of Korea.284 Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
estimates that almost half of urban consumers who
have bank accounts in South East Asia make use of
digital wallets, where they are also used by some
13 per cent of unbanked urban citizens. The use of
wallets supported by non-bank e-money providers is
one way in which consumers can overcome difficulties
in obtaining formal bank accounts, benefiting both
e-shoppers and e-merchants. Shippit’s Shopify
service in South East Asia, for instance, supports
cash on delivery arrangements that allow merchants
to access unbanked consumers.285 BCG expects
adoption to rise rapidly among the presently
unbanked if/as barriers to adoption are addressed –
particularly lack of experience and confidence among
consumers and high fees required of merchants.286
However, merchants report that high costs for
accepting payments through them deter them from
adoption. In Latin America, fees for MSMEs can be
20 per cent or more of transaction value.287 This will
need to be addressed if they are to play as full a part
in e-commerce as might otherwise be possible.
Mobile money has become popular, meanwhile,
in a growing number of lower-income developing
countries in recent years, following the pioneering
introduction of Safaricom’s M-PESA service in Kenya
in 2007. There are now over 800 million registered
mobile money accounts worldwide, responsible for
transactions worth US$ 1.3 billion daily. Some 21 per
cent of African adults are estimated to have mobile
money accounts today, though adoption rates
are considerably higher in East Africa than other
regions.288
UNCTAD assessments have found that, despite
mobile money’s growing popularity, there is still
a strong ‘cash culture’ in many countries because
consumers trust cash more than cashless options,
especially for goods that require delivery. This is true
even in wealthier countries, for instance in the Arab

78 A GLOBAL REVIEW
region, where many customers hold debit and credit
cards. 289
Confidence in digital payments mechanisms
takes time to develop and varies substantially
between countries. Anxiety about possible fraud
inhibits online payments, particularly in countries
THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC
The growth of online shopping during the pandemic,
which is evident throughout the world, has led to
increased use of digital payment mechanisms for
domestic e-commerce. Digital mechanisms have
obvious convenience for online purchases, whether
for collection or delivery. As well as facilitating online
purchases, contactless debit and credit cards have
also been preferred to physical transactions by many
merchants and consumers, particularly in OECD
countries, because they lower the risk of COVID-19
transmission. Indeed, in Zambia, mobile money has
been explicitly promoted as risk mitigation in the face
of COVID-19.290 However, many consumers continue
to prefer to pay by cash, which still predominates in
many countries, particularly developing countries
and LDCs.
UNCTAD’s nine-country survey of consumers, which
was summarized in CHAPTER 2, found significant
differences between consumers’ preferred methods
of digital payment in different countries. Debit and
credit cards were most favoured by those surveyed
(in its relatively small samples) in five countries –
Brazil, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation,
South Africa and Turkey – while PayPal was preferred
by customers in Germany and Italy, and the apps
Alipay and WeChatPay in China.291 Evidence from
another consumer survey undertaken during the
pandemic, this time in Brazil, suggests that, while
debit and credit cards are more popular than other
digital payment mechanisms, the biggest growth
in that country has been in wire and online bank
transfers.292
None of the countries in UNCTAD’s consumer survey
were LDCs. UNCTAD’s survey of e-businesses in
LDCs found a different picture, with growth reported
in the use of both mobile money (more widespread in
with inadequate data privacy and consumer
protection laws. New users who are unfamiliar with
potential risks can be particularly vulnerable.
lower income countries where a higher proportion of
the population is unbanked) and cash on delivery. 293
Both of these trends may reflect the increased reach
of e-shopping down the income scale, to include
more of those who lack formal accounts but are
experienced with mobile money and more who have
not previously used mobile money but have recently
begun to do.
The pandemic’s introduction of new customers
to digital payments has tested confidence in
digital systems. ECLAC sees trust in payments as
‘a fundamental challenge’ that will take years to
mature but notes that ‘During the emergency, …
users, including consumers, the government, and
businesses, were forced to rely on digital payments,
with many first-time users adopting the technology in
just a few months. As a result, according to the data
analysis company Kantar’s COVID-19 Barometer, an
average of 70 per cent of users in Argentina, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia and Mexico indicated that they
would continue to use electronic payments after the
emergency is over.294
Alongside this, however, there is evidence of
increased cybersecurity risks and risks of data abuse
as new users adopt technologies vulnerable to fraud
in countries that have weak legal and regulatory
frameworks for cybersecurity and data protection.295
New users who are unfamiliar with online risks are
potentially more vulnerable than more experienced
users. The VPN provider Atlas reports that the number
of phishing sites more than trebled between January
and the middle of March 2020, as the pandemic took
hold within the country.296 Google has reported a
surge in phishing sites worldwide, reaching a total
of more than two million by late 2020, already more
than 19 per cent higher than in 2019.297
eTrade for all 79
 RESPONSES

The COVID-19 pandemic has, therefore, elevated for instance, introduced a fee waiver on all
the importance of digital payment systems. By mid- transactions under KSH 1,000 (approximately
April 2020, the World Bank had already listed over US$ 9.20) for a three-month period.
fifty policy measures, in 35 countries, to support
• MTN, Vodacom and Orange are all reported to
the functioning of national payment systems and
have lowered fees to reduce barriers to entry in
facilitate the use of digital payments during the
some markets, and to have initiated new services
pandemic. It grouped these into three categories:
to support digital entrepreneurs. In Zambia the
• fee reductions and waivers on critical payment company reduced fees to zero for transactions
services; below ZMW 100 (approximately US$ 5.50).302
In Uganda and Rwanda, both MTN and Afritel
• temporary increases in the ceilings forvaritous
cut mobile money fees, while MTN suspended
financial transactions; and
them up to a specified limit in South Africa and
• promotion of digital channels for payments to Cameroon.303
and from government, such as taxes and welfare
• The Central Bank of West African States has
benefits.
stimulated the use of electronic payments in
Central Banks have played a role in some countries. both public and private sectors in the context
That in the Russian Federation, for example, lowered of COVID-19, facilitating the introduction of new
the acceptance fees paid by merchants when digital platforms in Togo and Burkina Faso.304
accepting card payments for online purchases, and
• The postal agency in Togo has scrapped fees for
temporarily simplified its ‘know your customer’ rules
some transactions using its ECO CCP platform,
required for verifying accounts opened by individuals
which is based on telephone numbers and has
or MSMEs for a range of purposes.298 The Central
light KYC requirements. It also launched an
Bank in Egypt asked commercial banks to reduce
e-Poste mobile app to facilitate free payment of
fees and increase spending limits on digital wallets
utility bills.305
and prepaid cards in order to improve the safety of
transactions.299 • Accelerated adoption of digital payments
has demonstrated to banks and financial
In Uganda, the government has worked with mobile
institutions the importance of relatively simple,
operators to offer complementary data packages
straightforward, and welcoming mechanisms for
to facilitate cashless transactions, while in Zambia
bringing new users onboard.
the government has waived charges for person-
to-person electronic money transfers (which are
not themselves e-commerce but may be used to
This experience does not appear, however, to be
transfer money that enables it). At least seven other
universal. ECLAC found that most activity to facilitate
African countries have waived or reduced their
digital payments mechanisms in its region, whether
money transfer fees.300 The Central Bank of Rwanda
concerned with regulation or aimed at stimulating
suspended mobile money fees for three months and
adoption of new mechanisms, followed from
waived charges on push and pull services between
measures that were already underway before the
bank accounts and mobile wallets.301
crisis – though in its regional report associated with
A number of developing countries have also seen this project it notes that some banks in the region
interventions by businesses intended to improve have sought to incentivize electronic payments,
affordability. for example by making platforms free of charge
(at least in the short term) or providing training to
• Some alternative financial services have taken
(presumably new) users.306
the opportunity to encourage adoption by new
users. Kenya’s mobile money service M-PESA,

80 A GLOBAL REVIEW
ROAD TO RECOVERY
The e-Trade for all initiative has recommended
interventions in three main policy and business areas
concerning payments.
• The establishment of an enabling regulatory
environment to foster confidence in digital
transactions – among merchants and consumers
– is crucial to encouraging investment in digital
payments infrastructure and adoption of digital
payment systems. This includes measures
(also discussed in section E) related to digital
transactions, cybersecurity and consumer
protection.
• Competition and cooperation are both important
for digital payments to meet consumer needs.
Competition fosters innovation in service
provision as well as lower costs to consumers.
307
At the same time, however, financial institutions
must cooperate to enable seamless interbank
transfers and interoperability between different
payment platforms in order to reduce friction
in e-commerce transactions, increase ease of
use and also lower costs. Achieving this balance
of competition and collaboration may require
adjustment of financial regulations.
• Mobile and cashless payment systems are
unfamiliar to many people, particularly in
developing countries where, even in the face
of the pandemic, cash culture remains strong.
Financial institutions should develop interfaces
that are easy to use, available in local languages
and reduce barriers to onboarding in order to
encourage more people to adopt them. New
developments in and wider adoption of QR
codes could play a significant part in this.308
Awareness-raising programmes by government
and business can also highlight the benefits of
digital transactions in domestic markets.
The pandemic has demonstrated the value of
digital and cashless payment mechanisms
enabling transactions to be made remotely but, as
noted above, cash culture is still prevalent in many
countries. Increasing the acceptance and adoption
of cashless payments would hasten short-term
recovery from the crisis and lay the ground for
stronger e-commerce in future. This is important in
both B2B and B2C markets.
High-value transactions between businesses can be
implemented more quickly, efficiently and reliably
through digital bank transfers than traditional media
such as cheques. International transactions require
complex payment mechanisms, often in multiple
currencies, which are capable of enforcement in
multiple jurisdictions. These require robust legal,
regulatory and technical frameworks (see also
SECTION E) to address long-term challenges,
particularly interoperability.
Some progress is occurring in this context. ECA
reports, for instance, that the African Export-Import
Bank has launched a Pan-African Payment and
Settlement System (PAPSS) for processing, clearing
and settling inter-African trade and commerce
payments. This has been supported by almost all
African countries, though implementation will be
challenging.309
Cash payments remain the norm for low-value
transactions, including shopping, in most countries.
A variety of online payment methods is, however,
now available for domestic B2C including debit
and credit cards, mobile money, and intermediated
services such as PayPal. The popularity of these
varies between countries but has increased during
the pandemic. Many shops, particularly in developed
countries, have required or strongly preferred
cashless payments since the onset of the crisis, in
order to minimize physical transmission of the virus.
More could be done by governments to stimulate
adoption of alternative financial mechanisms focused
on those who are currently unbanked. Willingness to
facilitate innovative financial services, while ensuring
their security, is important in this context. ECA notes
that, while the government and central bank of
Kenya actively promoted mobile money as a tool for
digital inclusion when M-PESA was first established
in more than a decade ago, progress in issuing mobile
banking licences elsewhere in Africa has been
slower.310
eTrade for all 81
 One of the most important factors inhibiting together, nationally and internationally, to protect
adoption of digital payments appears to be lack of merchants and consumers against fraud and other
confidence among both merchants and consumers types of cybercrime is fundamental to an effective
that transactions will be secure, goods purchased will national strategy for e-commerce.
be delivered, and data will not be misused, especially
for fraud. While the pandemic has broadened
experience of digital payments within the community,
bringing many new customers on board, it has
also created new opportunities for cybercrime and
reinforced the importance of robust and responsive
cybersecurity.311 Although the details of cybersecurity
programmes are beyond the remit of this report, the
need for governments and digital businesses to work

82 A GLOBAL REVIEW
TRADE LOGISTICS

Main
Messages

Inefficient transport and trade logistics, which reduce the cost and speed advantages
that digital transactions offer merchants, have been accentuated during the
pandemic, particularly for small consignments from MSMEs. Pandemic conditions
have also accentuated weaknesses in infrastructure for delivery of parcels. Some
governments have introduced information resources, portals and platforms during
the pandemic to assist MSMEs and start-ups to establish e-commerce initiatives.
Regional Commissions of the United Nations, ICAO, ITC, UNCTAD, UPU, WCO, WTO
and other eTrade for all partners offer programmes to support improvements in
trade logistics and trade facilitation. Governments and other stakeholders should
focus on:

• Facilitating the digitalization of international trade by adopting the provisions

of WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement, implementing standardized paperless
documentation formats, single window processes and other mechanisms to
smooth the flow of goods along transport corridors and through border crossings;

• Investing in transport infrastructure, including ports, airports and border

crossings, which are critical to enabling cost-effective distribution of inbound
and outbound goods that are ordered online from other countries;

• Considering the introduction of de minimis duty exemptions for low-value

shipments;

• Investing in improvements to postal networks, including the introduction

of comprehensive physical addressing, and enabling innovative/competitive
delivery mechanisms;

• Supporting the establishment of information resources, portals and platforms

that assist MSMEs in entering e-commerce markets.

eTrade for all 83

 SECTION D
TRADE LOGISTICS
SUMMARY
International e - commerce related to goods,
like other international merchandise trade,
is subjec t to delay s and other problems with
transpor t corridors and border logis tic s that
increase cos t s and thereby reduce demand. It
is also impaired by inadequate interoperabilit y
bet ween both phy sical and digital
infras truc tures across borders. Domes tic
e - commerce, meanwhile, is inhibited in many
countries by inadequate phy sical address
s y s tems that prevent reliable home deliver y
for many cus tomers. L ack of information
resources, por tals and plat forms tailored to
local business communities has also deterred
local merchant s and consumers from entering
unfamiliar market s for e - commerce.
THE CHALLENGE
Electronic commerce is not purely electronic. While
online products can substitute for some physical
goods (most notably in entertainment), many
e-commerce transactions require movement of
goods and/or people, whether within countries or
across borders. Challenges arising at the interface
between digital and physical infrastructures add,
therefore, to those that already exist within traditional
trade relationships.312 At the same time, ICTs provide
new ways of facilitating trade by improving the
efficiency of data management along trade corridors
and through border crossing points. ‘Single window’
processes and data standardization that enable
84 A GLOBAL REVIEW
Staf f shor tages and enhanced safet y
precautions have exacerbated these problems
during the pandemic, while heightened
demand for domes tic e - commerce has put
increased pressure on pos tal and express
deliveries. Some government s have relaxed
border controls in order to mitigate pandemic
impac t s, especially for small consignment s.
Some have es tablished new information
resources, por tals and plat forms to assis t
MSMEs and s tar t- ups to es tablish e - commerce
ventures or have provided resources to help
them improve their connec tivit y and f inancial
capabilities. These provide potential models
for fur ther inter ventions to suppor t recover y.
international interoperability are crucial to achieving
the gains that can be derived from this.
The assessment of e-trade environments in LDCs
undertaken by UNCTAD and its eTrade for all
partners has identified three major themes of trade
logistics that adversely affect e-commerce. These are
concerned with customs and border arrangements,
transport, and postal and delivery services.
Cumbersome and inefficient customs and border
arrangements present bottlenecks to the growth
of international e-commerce through ports,
airports and border crossing points. These can
occur at multiple interfaces within border systems,
including inconsistent documentary requirements
and interoperable document interfaces that cause
delays, raise costs, and thereby deter e-commerce
development. They are particularly problematic for
small consignments with relatively low margins that
have most potential value for e-commerce MSMEs
and start-up businesses.
Such problems can be addressed, and trade costs
reduced, by trade facilitation measures. Trade
facilitation is defined by the United Nations Centre
for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/
CEFACT) as ‘the simplification, standardization
and harmonization of procedures and associated
information flows required to move goods from
seller to buyer and to make payment’.313 It includes
processes such as those at customs and border
crossings, digital tracking and consignment
management, the introduction of paperless trade
and ‘single windows’ for trade documentation.
The extent of such restructuring and facilitation
has varied greatly. 314
Some countries, particularly
developed countries handling large volumes
of international commerce, have implemented
extensive trade facilitation arrangements, reducing
costs and enhancing their competitiveness along
trade routes. Others lag behind, causing problems
for local exporters. ESCWA reports, for instance,
that a majority of respondents it surveyed for this
project blamed complicated customs processes and
bureaucracy for hampering cross-border commerce
in its region, citing cross-border duties as an additional
deterrent. These were particularly problematic for
small businesses that rely on small consignments.315
ECLAC believes that implementation of single
windows and paperless trade needs to become more
effective in its region, with particular attention to
electronic certificates of origin and the exchange of
customs declarations and sanitary and phytosanitary
certificates. Even where they are established, such
systems are not fully functional and, in some cases,
do not recognize the role of express couriers.316
Poor transport infrastructure and insecure
transport corridors inhibit transit of freight traffic,
both international and domestic, particularly in more
remote and rural areas. High transport costs are
particularly problematic in geographically difficult
contexts such as archipelagos and underpopulated
desert and mountain districts. In the Philippines, for
example, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands,
complex geography has long posed a challenge to
last-mile delivery, resulting in high shipping costs
and slow delivery times. Even before lockdown was
imposed, deliveries typically took nearly 12 days for
areas outside Manila.317
The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has identified
extensive challenges for postal services including
lack of ICT infrastructure, under-investment, the
slow pace of transition to a more digital culture,
deficiencies in customs clearance, and the preference
of e-merchants to use their own networks.318
Postal services worldwide have been changing the
profile of their services in response to digitalization
for some time, as email and online messaging
services have displaced letter post while growth
in e-commerce has increased demand for parcels
deliveries. The share of letter post in the total revenue
of postal operators fell from 45 per cent in 2008 to 39
per cent in 2018 while that of parcels rose from 16
to 27 per cent.319 Restructuring, reorganization and
new investment are required to facilitate transition
on this scale.
Domestic e-commerce deliveries rely on national
postal services, many of which are under-resourced
and, in addition or where these are available, on
express and courier services, which tend to be
more costly. Delivery to remote and rural areas can
therefore be expensive and unreliable. In addition,
physical address systems (such as postcodes,
street names and house numbers) are often poor in
developing countries, especially outside urban areas
and in informal housing districts, making it difficult to
deliver packages reliably and inhibiting the ordering
of goods for home or business delivery. UPU
estimates, for instance, that around 10 per cent of
people in Latin America do not receive post at home,
with five per cent or more having no postal service
whatsoever. ‘Despite gradual uptake of technology-
based solutions by the postal system and private
logistics operators’, UNCTAD has therefore noted,
‘time and cost of deliveries in remote areas remains
unattractive to sustain e-commerce growth’. Even in
eTrade for all 85
 urban areas, many online customers choose to use reaching out to new potential customers. Relevant
click-and-collect alternatives to home delivery as a information resources, platforms and portals can
result. 320
make a substantial difference to the viability of both
e-commerce start-ups and established businesses
Another challenge considered by eTrade for all, that
seeking to move online. These can be provided or
especially affects MSMEs and businesses seeking
supported by governments, business associations or
to diversify or expand into new international and
third-party intermediaries.
domestic markets, is the difficulty they face in obtaining
information about market opportunities and in

THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC

As noted earlier, the pandemic has tended to reduce exacerbated existing bottlenecks despite the
the value and volume of international e-commerce reduced volume of cross-border trade.
but has increased its share within domestic retail.
• In its report for this project, ECA notes that
Most e-businesses surveyed by UNCTAD for this
more intensive border management procedures
project reported disruption to supply chains due
(including ship and container screenings,
to lockdowns, movement restrictions, business
personal health checks and possible quarantine
closures and closed borders, reinforcing pre-existing
of goods), accompanied by staffing shortages,
bottlenecks. ESCWA, for instance, reports that
have caused additional delays through border
some 65 per cent of airports in its region were fully
crossings, ports and airports.324
closed early in the pandemic, along with a significant
proportion of road crossings. It anticipated a drop of The Singapore-based delivery service Ninja Van,
22 per cent in road freight transport turnover during which provides last-mile delivery to marketplace
2020 by comparison with the previous year.321 sellers, has reported that although parcel volume has
increased during the lockdown, safety measures have
Disruption to supply chains means that many
hit productivity and the company has incurred extra
businesses have lost access to regular suppliers
costs.325 At least one international logistics company
and had to seek alternatives, sometimes through
is reported to have introduced an Emergency
imports rather than domestic procurement, which
Situation Surcharge for logistics management during
has proved costly, time-consuming and has required
the crisis, adversely affecting the viability of small
inexperienced business managers to acquire new
consignments.326
e-commerce skills. ECLAC reports that, though
the vast majority of companies in its region were The preference of online shoppers for home delivery
connected to the Internet before the pandemic, only during the pandemic has emphasized the importance
a third used it to buy inputs (compared with 70 per of non-digital infrastructure in enabling e-commerce.
cent in OECD countries) and less than 20 per cent In some cases – such as local food deliveries – it
had online sales channels.322 has been met by retailers organizing their own
deliveries or using specialist delivery businesses
Poor trade logistics and weak trade facilitation
(which may be local firms or international platforms
provided a weak starting point for merchants
like Deliveroo and Uber Eats). New express delivery
hit by the pandemic and struggling to maintain
services have emerged in Tunisia, while a number of
international sales. COVID-19 protective measures
private logistics companies have entered the market
have added to the range of difficulties encountered,
in Cambodia, including food and grocery deliverers
even where the pandemic has otherwise increased
such as Food Panda, Nham24 and E-gets.327
opportunities.
More generally, changing demand for delivery
• ECLAC’s report 323 suggests that more complex
has shifted the balance of postal services and put
health and safety requirements for those
increased pressure on post offices, express and
working in transport and border controls have

86 A GLOBAL REVIEW
courier services. For the first time in its history,
revenue from parcels deliveries has exceeded that
from letters for the United Kingdom’s postal service,
Royal Mail, rising to 60 per cent compared with 47
per cent before the crisis. 328
stranded in the logistical ‘no man’s land’ between
sender and recipient. Firms that can find ways around
these problems, such as using express couriers, can
gain competitive advantage.

Increased demand and COVID-induced shortages

of personnel have compounded already poor
performance in postal reliability, inhibiting merchants
from offering online sales and consumers from
making online purchases. Global data from UPU
shows that the average time for customs and border
clearance for inbound parcels around the world
increased by 97 per cent from late January to mid-
April 2020, with a spread from two to 64 hours.329
An increasing number of parcels are reported to be

RESPONSES
The challenges of trade logistics are considerable, One such potential change is the introduction of a de
requiring international cooperation, capital minimis threshold to exempt low-value consignments
investment, revised business models and from tariffs in cross-border trade. This can be
restructuring of customs and other border interfaces. particularly beneficial for MSMEs, many of which
The pandemic has reinforced the desirability of better rely on smaller consignments in their export trade,
trade facilitation and enabled some acceleration of and informal traders at border crossing points. The
processes that were already underway. government of Colombia has introduced a US$ 200
de minimis threshold for tariff-exempted goods, to
UNCTAD has proposed a range of broad policies
encourage trade in low-value consignments.332
and practical measures that governments can
take to maintain transport, customs management
and associated processes during the pandemic,
including the promotion of paperless systems and
measures to expedite customs clearance.330 It has
also published guidelines for the adaptation of its
ASYCUDA customs management system.331

Border closures and movement controls have

especially increased the challenges faced by MSMEs
and informal border traders, making it difficult for
many to pursue their normal economic activities.
Measures have been taken in different regions to
address these challenges. While many of these have
been concerned with mitigating immediate or short-
term problems, they also suggest ways in which
longer-term challenges identified above might also
be addressed.

eTrade for all 87

 Other measures have been taken by governments and regional associations.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes

transition economies in the ECE region, has adopted
measures to establish green corridors for food and
medicine products, simplifying regulatory processes
and allowing greater use of digital documentation. 333

ECLAC has identified a number

of initiatives taken within its
region to address deficiencies
in trade logistics during the
pandemic. It was a priority at the
start of the crisis, for example,
to guarantee supplies of COVID-
related personal protective
and therapeutic equipment
which were often traded online TradeMark East Africa, which works with New measures introduced in the
through e-commerce platforms the East African Community to promote trade small island state of Kiribati
and marketplaces and delivered facilitation in its region, has operated a Safe have included online clearance
by express or courier services. Trade pilot project to track cargo and monitor the of documentation for incoming
Adjustments to border controls health of truckers using border crossings, using flights and vessels, ensuring
were made that enabled rapid technology to reduce physical contact. 334 delivery of essential goods and
entry clearance for these repatriating foreign citizens while
goods. 336 minimizing physical contact. 335

Initiatives like these depend on cooperation between channels due to transport restrictions and public
border agencies within and between countries, health requirements.
including interoperable processes and technologies,
• Some have offered new services designed to help
and may require regulatory as well as administrative
merchants entering e-commerce to fulfil sales
flexibility.
and deliveries. In Senegal, La Poste readjusted
As noted above, postal services are important its delivery service called ‘Jotnaci’ by deploying
distribution channels for e-commerce, and have a digital third-party marketplace, revising prices
experienced increased demand while introducing and diversifying partners.338
additional safety precautions and sometimes
struggling to maintain staffing levels. Countries and
regions with relatively strong and well-developed
postal networks, such as transition economies in
Central Asia, have found it easier to meet pressures
placed by rising demand during the pandemic.337

• Some post offices have taken steps to mitigate

adverse impacts of disruptions in their distribution

88 A GLOBAL REVIEW
BOX 3.1 Information Services for Online Businesses
Trade facilitation is not solely concerned with
processes for transport, data management and
international borders. Many businesses are
deterred from entering new markets by lack
of information about potential demand and
uncertainty about procedures they will need
to follow, which add to perceived risk. New
requirements associated with the COVID-19 crisis
have exacerbated the level of perceived risk as
well as increasing the desirability, for firms, of
reaching new markets with new trading methods.
Business associations and governments can help
firms to diversify markets and business models
by providing information resources, platforms
and portals.
The most widespread innovation in trade
facilitation reported by ECLAC during the
pandemic has been in efforts to promote
businesses’ e-readiness and online presence in
this way. One of the more common measures
taken in the region early in the crisis, was the
establishment of dedicated websites with
resources and information for MSMEs to improve
their online presence and adjust business
models to the new context. Argentina’s SMEs
Digital Assistance Network, for example, offers
resources and tools to help MSMEs improve
their connectivity, payments, invoicing, sales and
distribution, as well as provide training materials.
Local businesses can also advertise using
its platform.339 Governments in a number of
countries in the ESCWA region have also initiated
online services to support businesses and citizens
navigate the challenges of the pandemic.340
Some governments and businesses have
established public-private partnerships with
existing marketplaces or developed new
platforms to help connect MSMEs with suppliers
and customers. Initiatives like this can be
especially helpful for microenterprises and those
in rural areas.
• Costa Rica’s government, for instance,
has initiated a Buy-SME platform for those
businesses without an online presence,
and a smartphone app and texting service
to facilitate trade among producers of
agricultural, meat and fish products.341
Development partners and third-party platforms
have taken some initiatives along these lines
which have particular relevance to longer term
recovery.
• The African Development Bank has
established Fashionomics, a digital
marketplace for MSMEs in the clothing
industry which, it says, will pay special
attention to connecting women
entrepreneurs with national, regional, and
global digital marketplaces.342
• ITC and partner organizations have launched
the Africa Marketplace Explorer to help
MSMEs ‘find information on how to sell
goods online in a regional or neighbouring
country, which marketplaces exist, whether
they allow foreign firms and what the access
requirements are’.343
Measures such as these could help to stimulate
recovery, particularly in sectors such as tourism
that have been badly hit by the pandemic. It
would be valuable to assess experience with
those introduced during the pandemic in order
to maximize their potential value for MSME
development in future.
eTrade for all 89
 THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
Four priority areas for long-term intervention in
trade logistics have been identified by the eTrade
for all initiative. These are concerned primarily with
the physical delivery of goods, including the growing
proportion that are now ordered and paid for online.
This illustrates the interdependence of physical and
digital infrastructures in the evolving digital economy.
1 The eTrade for all initiative urges governments
to facilitate digitalization of international trade
by adopting the provisions of WTO’s Trade Facilitation
Agreement (TFA), implementing standardized or
harmonized formats for electronic data interchange
and paperless documentation, single window
processes and other mechanisms to smooth the
flow of goods along transport corridors and through
ports, airports and border crossings. A number of
international models for these are available, including
templates from the UN Commission on International
Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the United Nations Centre
for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business
(UN/CEFACT), and UNCTAD’s ASYCUDA customs
management system. UN/CEFACT has recently
developed an e-commerce framework called ISMIT
– Integrated Services for MSMEs in International
Trade – to improve smaller businesses’ access to
international trading opportunities.344
ECLAC believes that Central American and Caribbean
countries, in particular, would benefit from greater
compliance with the TFA, especially with respect
to cross-border paperless trade and support to
MSMEs. The experiences of Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay
during the pandemic, it believes, ‘demonstrate that
advancing on this agenda can improve the trade
facilitation environment and strengthen resilience in
times of crisis’. It recommends investment in capacity-
building and adoption of new technologies, such as
those applying artificial intelligence and blockchain,
in order to automate and modernize risk assessment
and enable customs ‘to overcome the challenge of
achieving agile management of growing and more
90 A GLOBAL REVIEW
diverse e-commerce flows while maintaining efficient
and effective controls and inspections’.345
Some countries in Latin America have taken the
opportunity of the pandemic to initiate long-term
improvements in border trade that may have a lasting
impact on digital opportunities. Costa Rica and
Panama, for example, have introduced more agile
border processes, while Peru and the Dominican
Republic have moved towards paperless customs
processes. Colombia has begun a comprehensive
digitalization of tax and customs processes.
2 Second, the eTrade for all initiative encourages
investment in improving transport infrastructure,
including ports, airports, roads and railways
concerned with both domestic and international
distribution. B2C suppliers and consumers are
inhibited from offering and ordering online where
transport and delivery obstacles make transactions
inefficient or uncertain. Addressing these physical
barriers is an important part of enabling digital trade.
3 Third, the initiative suggests that governments
consider changes to customs that will encourage
cross-border trade in small consignments of the kind
traded by MSMEs. One relatively straightforward
way to do this is the introduction of de minimis
duty exemptions for low-value shipments, as
recommended by the TFA. This is particularly
beneficial to MSMEs. Colombia has followed this
advice during the pandemic, as mentioned earlier,
introducing a US$ 200 de minimis threshold below
which shipments are exempt from tariffs. Such
measures have lasting value as well as immediate
value during the present crisis.
4 Fourth, the eTrade for all initiative urges
governments to enable postal services to innovate,
building capacity and identifying opportunities to
monetize payment services, delivery mechanisms
and support for platforms, including international
partnerships. In addition, it urges governments
and postal services to improve last mile delivery
mechanisms, by allowing increased capacity in the
delivery market (for example through competition
and technology-enabled platforms) and by the
introduction of comprehensive physical addressing
and postcode systems where these are not currently
in place. Long-term improvements along these lines
would improve the reliability of postal services (which
would encourage use of e-commerce), lower costs to
merchants and strengthen the resilience of national
economies in the face of future potential crises.
ECLAC is concerned that measures taken by
governments in response to the pandemic are often
locally focused and do not address opportunities
of new markets. It recommends that governments
pay more attention to the potential of cross-border
e-commerce, through interventions specifically
targeting MSMEs and sectors that have
traditionally exported digital services.346
Regional economic communities (RECs) can play
an important part in facilitating and coordinating
trade facilitation measures. Regions with strongly
established economic communities that already
govern broad aspects of trade and the movement
of goods and people, such as the European Union,
have been better equipped to agree adjustments
to trade arrangements that respond to crisis needs.
The East African Community’s regional free trade
agreement and established working relationships
have helped along these lines in Africa, particularly
when new logistics challenges have arisen due to
staff shortages and health precautions at border
crossings.347 The Eurasian Economic Commission has
set up an initiative to formulate comprehensive legal
regulation for e-commerce including cross-border
e-commerce, customs and fiscal arrangements.348
There has been some acceleration of discussions
about regional agreements during the crisis.
Negotiations towards establishing a protocol for
e-commerce are ongoing within MERCOSUR, for
instance, while the Pacific Alliance has started
conversations to establish an additional protocol for
cross-border digital trade and e-commerce, including
arrangements for mutual recognition of digital and
electronic signatures, online consumer protection,
and digitally transmitted products, such as software,
video games, video and sound.349
More coordinating initiatives at regional level would,
not
however, add greater value in all regions. ESCWA
considers more regional economic integration in its
region critical in this area, emphasising the need to
progress on regional free trade agreements that
address e-commerce issues including cross-border
duties, consumer protection, taxation and regulatory
harmonization. A substantial majority of respondents
to its survey of e-commerce stakeholders identified
lack of coordination between trade institutions in
their countries as significantly problematic for their
businesses.350
eTrade for all 91
 LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS

Main
Messages

The effective implementation of e-commerce requires sophisticated and

comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks concerned with ease of doing
business and with aspects of digitalization including electronic signatures and
transactions, data management, consumer protection and cybersecurity, which are
still inadequately implemented in many countries. The pandemic has demonstrated
their importance in providing a safe, trusted, efficient and secure environment
for both merchants and consumers. The eTrade for all partners, including the
Commonwealth Secretariat, Consumers International, CUTS, ITU, the South Centre,
UNCITRAL, UNCTAD and the WTO, all offer support in this area. Governments and
other stakeholders should focus on:

• Undertaking a regulatory gap analysis in existing law and practice to identify

where new measures are required;

• Working together to develop a holistic approach to legislation and regulation

across government, in line with national e-commerce strategies;

• Relaxing regulations that inhibit or delay business start-ups and rapid, responsive
innovations in business practice (which are particularly relevant to e-commerce
ventures);

• Introducing new legislation and regulations expeditiously, but with full due
diligence, in critical areas for e-commerce such as electronic transactions,
data and consumer protection and cybersecurity, together with appropriate
enforcement mechanisms;

• Building awareness and capacity for legal adoption and enforcement by

government, parliament and the judiciary, and for compliance by business.

• Supporting the establishment of information resources, portals and platforms

that assist MSMEs in entering e-commerce markets.

92 A GLOBAL REVIEW
SECTION E
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
FRAMEWORKS
SUMMARY
E-commerce requires the adaptation of existing
business policies and practice and the introduction
of new legal and regulatory frameworks to govern
digital interfaces, in areas including electronic
transactions and signatures, data and consumer
protection, cybersecurity and the standardization
and authentication of fiscal, customs and cross-
border trade requirements. The absence or
inadequacy of appropriate and supportive legal and
regulatory frameworks, which is still common in many
countries, inhibits the development of domestic and
international transactions and the degree of trust
between merchants and consumers that is required
for e-commerce to flourish. 351
The pandemic has demonstrated the significance
of these problems, particularly where it has made it
more difficult for businesses to develop new business
THE CHALLENGE
E-commerce requires the adaptation of existing
business policies and practice, not least in enterprise
development, and the introduction of new legal
and regulatory frameworks to govern its digital
interfaces. Appropriate, effective and enforced legal
and regulatory frameworks also inspire trust and
confidence among buyers and sellers in the integrity
and security of e-commerce transactions.
Critical areas for inclusion in a comprehensive
approach to improving legal and regulatory
frameworks include:
models or migrate online, engage in international
e-commerce through global standard interfaces
or build trusted relationships with international or
domestic customers. Cybersecurity risks have grown
during the pandemic, particularly where protections
are weak, monitoring poor and enforcement limited.
Awareness of these problems has been raised and
some governments have implemented temporary
measures to facilitate e-commerce business
development. Some have been spurred to accelerate
legislative processes that were already underway
or were delayed in government or parliament,
though these have generally concerned aspects of
e-commerce rather than addressing the environment
for it holistically. Such measures, in any case, require
time to become embedded in business practice and
customer behaviour.
• business regulation, particularly that concerned
with the establishment of new businesses and
new business services;
• financial regulation, including the introduction of
digital finance and payment mechanisms;
• intellectual property;
• electronic transactions, signatures and contracts;
• the standardization and authentication of fiscal,
customs and cross-border trade requirements in
trade agreements;
eTrade for all 93
 • data privacy, management and personal data merchants and customers alike.352 UNCTAD’s
protection; Cyberlaw Tracker monitors the enactment of relevant
legislation. In December 2020 it listed 81 per cent of
• digital identity;
countries worldwide with e-transaction laws, and 79
• consumer protection; per cent with laws concerning cybercrime, but only
66 per cent with privacy laws and 56 per cent with
• taxation; and laws governing consumer protection. The figures for
LDCs were much lower – 64 per cent, 66 per cent, 43
• cybercrime and cybersecurity.
per cent and 40 per cent respectively.353

ESCWA illustrates the value of a comprehensive

To facilitate international e-commerce, it is also
important that legal and regulatory frameworks are
harmonized or interoperable with those of other
countries with which there are substantial trade
relationships. An important role in this can be
played by Regional Economic Communities such as
the European Union, the Pacific Islands Forum and
the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS).
Many countries have not yet established
comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks
for e-commerce or enacted legislation governing
the areas listed above. ESCWA, for instance, reports
that many Arab countries lack legislative frameworks
for e-transactions and data protection. This leads to
lack of trust in digital transactions and discourages
strategy for e-commerce from the experience of the
United Arab Emirates, where e-commerce has shown
rapid continuous growth over recent years, and
from experience of specific legislation for consumer
protection in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, it regrets
that many countries in its region lack important
legal instruments for electronic transactions and
data protection, inhibiting businesses that might
otherwise join e-commerce markets. For the
Arab region, ESCWA urges particular attention to
legal frameworks for electronic signatures, data
protection, intellectual property, taxation and
cybersecurity. National frameworks in these areas,
it argues, should be reinforced through a regional
agreement governing cross-border digital trade.354

IMPACT AND RESPONSES

The pandemic has illustrated the importance of legal from entering into transactions that they think
and regulatory frameworks and the remaining gaps may put them at risk of fraud.
within them, including problems associated with
• The absence of consumer protection laws makes
limited deployment and weak enforcement.
customers vulnerable to abuse by unscrupulous
• The absence of adequate frameworks for traders, particularly in countries where
electronic transactions makes it more difficult consignment tracking and delivery networks are
for merchants and clients to arrange orders, poorly developed.
contracts and payments in both B2B and B2C,
Changes in legal and regulatory frameworks cannot
and is particularly problematic for international
be implemented quickly. Ensuring that they are
transactions that require currency conversion
appropriate requires prior assessment of existing
and interoperability between different bank
circumstances, gap analysis, consultation and,
regimes.
often, legislative agreement, all of which take time.
• Inadequate arrangements for tackling Once enacted, time is also required for training
cybercrime and data theft leave merchants and of enforcement personnel and the judiciary.
consumers vulnerable to fraud and inhibit them The pandemic period has not, therefore, seen

94 A GLOBAL REVIEW
many substantial changes in legal and regulatory • Cambodia’s government has expedited work
frameworks take place that were not already planned on implementation processes, as a result
or underway. Some governments, however, have of the pandemic, following enactment of its
revived or accelerated existing legislative processes e-commerce law in 2019.356
and/or initiated progress towards reforms that are
• A decree in Tunisia has laid down provisions to
required for recovery.
address violations of competition and fair pricing
• UNCTAD reports the launch of a new single- rules during lockdown.357
window or one-stop-shop process for business
• The government of Nepal is, likewise, drafting
registration in Iraq, a country which has ranked
new e-commerce laws following adoption of its
low in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business
national e-commerce strategy in 2019.358
Index. UNCTAD has pioneered a similar
registration process in Benin.355 Such measures
are valuable in simplifying the processes for start-
ups in the digital sector that may not conform to
the traditional business models envisaged by
existing regulations.

ROAD TO RECOVERY

Commercial relationships work within systems Alongside business regulation, e-commerce

of laws, regulations and standards that enable businesses need to work within a legal framework
transactions to take place efficiently and securely. governing the digital environment. A comprehensive
These cover diverse aspects of trade, from health approach to this, developed in line with the national
requirements through taxation to consumer welfare. strategy advocated in SECTION A, is preferable to
Existing business regulations are generally relevant piecemeal legislation and regulations because its
to and appropriate for e-commerce, but its different different elements are more likely to be integrated
modalities require both adjustments to existing rules effectively and reduce the risk of friction and legal
and additional legal and regulatory frameworks to be dispute. Comprehensive legal frameworks for
put in place if it is to enable innovation and gain the e-commerce should include arrangements for
trust of merchants and consumers. electronic signatures and transactions, financial
transfers, data management, consumer and
The quality of business regulation is an important
data protection, cybersecurity, international
factor in encouraging or discouraging business
trade documentation and other cross-border
innovation. Processes for registering new
requirements.
businesses or initiating new business offerings are
straightforward and permissive in some countries As noted above, many developing countries still
but much more restrictive in others, requiring lack a comprehensive framework of this kind, and
entrepreneurs to expend considerable time and this needs to be addressed in order to facilitate
money, with consequential opportunity costs. e-commerce. The requirement for appropriate legal
E-commerce requires start-ups and established and regulatory arrangements is becoming more
businesses to develop new business models that widely understood, not least because of deficiencies
do not always conform with traditional business revealed by the pandemic. In its report associated
regulations. Important areas for assessment with this project, for example, ESCWA has identified
and reconsideration in this context include the ‘the need for a legal infrastructure supportive of and
procedures, time, cost and capital required to open conducive to e-commerce activities’ as ‘one of the
a business and the level of documentation, cost and main issues that Arab policy makers should address
time required to gain trading authorizations. when defining an e-commerce regional strategy’.359

eTrade for all 95

 Some examples of longer-term developments have business, financial institutions and representatives
taken place during the pandemic. The Government of consumers as well as merchants – will help to
of Myanmar, for instance, has prioritized updating build confidence and remove barriers. New legal
regulatory frameworks, and developing an frameworks take time to embed themselves.
e-commerce law and business registration system Awareness-raising and capacity-building are
for e-commerce MSMEs. The new law is intended to necessary to expedite their integration in business
provide a level playing field to foster development practice and consumer behaviour, as are effective
of the e-commerce sector in line with the ASEAN measures to ensure compliance, including legal
economic community’s framework, and to establish enforcement.
an enabling environment for the e-commerce sector
These improvements can sometimes be effectively
and wider digital economy in Myanmar.360
undertaken at regional levels, through the
The e-Trade for all initiative recommends that cooperative frameworks of regional economic
governments begin to address this challenge by communities like ASEAN, the East Africa Community
undertaking a regulatory gap analysis, including (EAC) and Mercosur. Harmonization of cross-border
a review of existing laws and practices, to identify trade arrangements, including processes for
where new legislation or regulation is required. customs, transactions and sanitary/phytosanitary
This should be used to develop a holistic approach requirements, reduces costs and expedite
across government designed to maximize the value consignments, encouraging international commerce
of e-commerce. Multi-stakeholder engagement in (see SECTION D).
the development of regulations – involving digital

96 A GLOBAL REVIEW
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Main
Messages

The pandemic has shown that many MSMEs, especially in developing countries,
have lacked the business and technical skills to leverage e-commerce opportunities.
Many consumers, especially those new to ICTs, have lacked the digital literacy
skills required to make best use of opportunities to shop online. Addressing skill
shortages takes time and can benefit from good practices from around the world. In
this context, there is a wide range of expertise among eTrade for all members that
can be leveraged. Governments and other stakeholders should focus on:

• Working across government to support retraining and the development of skills

required for growing digital societies and economies;

• Enabling partnerships (including enterprise development hubs, incubators,

business schools and educational institutions) to provide practical training in
e-commerce, tailored to local job markets and business experience;

• Building skills among relevant parts of the government and parliament to raise
their ability to formulate, implement and enforce relevant policies, laws and
regulations;

• Strengthening the capabilities of domestic IT sectors, which have an important

part to play in supporting local digital transformation without overdependence
on external platforms and technology providers;

• Ensuring inclusion of women and girls who are under-represented in e-commerce

and find it more difficult at present, in many countries, to obtain relevant skills
and investment;

• Retraining staff in business support organizations (BSOs) to improve their ability

to support e-commerce MSMEs and start-ups;

• Establishing national e-procurement platforms and portals to assist MSMEs and

start-ups access international and domestic e-commerce markets;

• Supporting domestic e-commerce platforms that are accessible to all groups

within the population, including those with fewer language skills;

• Improving digital literacy and awareness-building among consumers.

eTrade for all 97

 SECTION F
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
SUMMARY
Digital literacy is crucial to the development of the
digital economy. Awareness of e-commerce is low
among government officials and MSMEs in many
countries, particularly in LDCs. New business models
require new skills, in both technology and commerce,
on the part of established businesses and consumers
as well as business start-ups. For businesses
especially, these skills are not merely technical:
e-commerce requires new ways of marketing and
managing relationships with customers who are
often unfamiliar with the modalities as well as the
potential benefits of e-commerce. Digital enterprise
is rarely taught alongside digital technology.
THE CHALLENGE
Digital skills are crucial to the development of the
digital economy. New ways of doing things require
new skills, in both technology and commerce, on the
part of established businesses and business start-
ups, as well as digital literacy among consumers.
The business skills required are not just technical.
E-commerce requires new ways of engaging with
international markets and export requirements,
of marketing and managing relationships with
customers. Small businesses, in particular, find it
more difficult to adapt to the need for online presence
and services in the absence of such skills.
Countries in which technical and business skills
are more widespread and better catered for in
98 A GLOBAL REVIEW
As in other areas, the pandemic has brought these
shortfalls to the fore. Initiatives to provide new
resources to MSMEs and nascent e-commerce
ventures, where implemented during the pandemic
by governments, platforms or business associations,
provide some tools that address or help to overcome
skills deficits in the short term and may encourage
more attention to longer-term investment in
business training. Like regulatory changes, however,
it takes time for capacity-building initiatives to have
widespread impact. Many businesses and consumers
are learning through experience rather than through
formal skills development.
business training and support are better equipped
to take advantage of e-commerce opportunities in
competitive international and domestic markets.
Experience here varies between regions and countries
within regions. Both technology and business skills
relating to e-commerce are well-established in North
American, European and East Asian markets. ESCWA,
on the other hand, reports that MSMEs in the Arab
region face considerable difficulties in entering
e-commerce markets as the result of complex rules
governing international trade, lack of knowledge of
digital marketing and lack of technical skills.
UNCTAD research has shown that awareness of
e-commerce is low among government officials and
MSME managers in many countries, particularly
LDCs. 361
Information technology courses in colleges
and universities rarely dedicate much time to the
digital economy. Graduates emerge from them
under-equipped with relevant entrepreneurial skills,
adding to the challenges faced by local technology
start-ups. Business support organizations (BSOs)
are also poorly equipped to guide those moving into
e-commerce or establishing e-commerce start-ups.
are often unaware of the potential benefits it has
to offer, less experienced in navigating apps and
websites, and more concerned about the risks that
they fear are associated with online transactions.
Their difficulties may be exacerbated by literacy and
language limitations on those apps and websites.

Digital literacy and self-confidence among

consumers are important for the growth of domestic
e-commerce. Older and less digitally engaged
consumers, including newcomers to e-shopping,

IMPACT AND RESPONSES

UNCTAD’s survey of e-commerce businesses, mostly
in LDCs, provides some evidence concerning skill
shortages in established e-commerce companies.
Fourteen per cent of those responding to the survey
indicated that they had inadequate workforce skills
to meet growing demand, but this was not the
only problem associated with the workplace and
workforce inhibiting agile response. Insufficient
funds to scale-up operations, uncertainty about the
future to undertake new investments, and availability
of the required workforce on short notice were vital
challenges, further complicated by COVID-related
health precautions. Start-ups and firms without
previous experience of e-commerce are likely to
experience greater skill deficiencies.
Evidence from consumer surveys suggests not only
that the volume of online shopping has grown during
the pandemic, but that e-shopping has been adopted
by new users who lack previous experience of it,
many of whom are also likely to have more limited
digital skills.
ECLAC reports that measures to strengthen
businesses’ e-readiness and online presence have
seen more active intervention by governments in
its region during the crisis than other challenges
discussed in this chapter, though few of these
interventions have focused on specific sectors or
cross-border trade.362 Some governments, such
as Colombia’s, have set up programmes to help
entrepreneurs establish e-commerce initiatives.
Others have worked with established marketplaces
to facilitate access for small businesses, both MSMEs
and in some cases informal microenterprises. Costa
Rica’s government, for example, has established the
Buy-SME platform to support businesses without an
online presence.363 The Government of Senegal has
expressed interest in mobilizing support to run an
information, education and awareness campaign on
the benefits of e-commerce across all segments of
population.364
Initiatives to enhance businesses’ e-readiness have
also been taken by international and regional agencies
in Latin America, including UNDP’s Accelerate 2030
MSMEs programme,365 and joint work to support
the digitalization of MSMEs in a number of countries
coordinated by the Organization of American States
and the online marketing platform KOLAU.366
The Inter-American Development Bank has launched
a COVID-19 Map of Providers and Solutions,367 which
is analogous to the tools and resources available
through eTrade for all.
As with payments systems, simpler interfaces on
e-shopping apps and websites would be more
accessible to new and inexperienced users and
therefore tend towards increasing usage. This is
particularly important, for example, where new
users lack some of the digital literacy skills of existing
online shoppers, or where minority languages are
under-represented online. Merchants who address

eTrade for all 99

 these challenges for new users are more likely to gain their business. They can also offer guidance and advice
to help users protect themselves from online abuse and fraud.
THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
Infrastructure, services and regulations are
insufficient without skills on both supply and demand
sides of e-commerce markets. Skills required by
businesses are not just concerned with the effective
use of technology, but also with marketing, enterprise
and innovation for digital markets. Both start-ups
and established firms moving online need personnel
with relevant skills that do not form part of traditional
university and college curricula.
The e-Trade for all initiative recognizes that developing
these skills within local business communities should
not be left to MSMEs using their own initiative,
but requires coordinated action, consistent with a
national e-commerce strategy. The grounds for this
are well put in ECLAC’s report:368
Given [the] differences in technology adoption
between large firms and MSMEs, a challenge
for LAC countries is to design policies that raise
awareness about the productivity and profitability
gains of applying (even simple and mature) digital
technologies in everyday productive processes,
as well as training programs that strengthen
MSME’s digital skills. A key aspect of this challenge
is to understand that, for most micro and small
businesses, information about suppliers, solution
providers, or technological tools may not be
enough to enable their digital transformation
and can, in fact, increase uncertainty about which
technology they should implement, fostering
inaction. Rather, MSMEs need to understand how
their business models must change in order to
better harness digital technologies and improve
profitability. This may imply [focusing on] the job
training of general entrepreneurial practices and
basic digital skills.
The pandemic has shown that many MSMEs,
especially in developing countries, have lacked the
business and technical skills to leverage e-commerce
opportunities. The eTrade for all initiative has
recommended four steps to build the capacity of
digital entrepreneurs:
100 A GLOBAL REVIEW
• It has called for partnerships between
government, business and educational
institutions (including enterprise development
hubs, incubators and business schools) to provide
practical training in e-commerce, tailored to local
job markets and business requirements.
• It has urged governments to prioritize the skills
development of women and girls who are under-
represented in the ICT sector and e-commerce.
• It has urged retraining for staff in business
support organizations (BSOs), so that they
are better equipped to assist potential digital
entrepreneurs.
• It has encouraged the establishment of national
and local platforms and portals to assist MSMEs
and digital start-ups to access broader national
and international markets, including national
e-procurement portals, such as those discussed
in Box 3.3 above.
Many consumers, especially those new to ICTs, have
lacked the digital literacy skills required to make
best use of opportunities to shop online. The desire
to shop online has grown as a result of movement
restrictions and health anxieties during the
pandemic but is constrained by potential customers’
unfamiliarity with online platforms and anxiety over
potential risks posed by online shopping (from fraud
to non-delivery).
While digital literacy and confidence will grow with
experience, and with more widespread adoption of
Internet-enabled smartphones, this can be expedited
by governments and businesses raising awareness
of the benefits of online shopping, and businesses
simplifying platforms and interfaces (particularly
for those with fewer language skills). Awareness of
consumer rights and consumer protection legislation
will also encourage new shoppers online.
FINANCING FOR E-COMMERCE

Main
Messages

MSMEs and e-commerce start-ups found it difficult before the pandemic to access
capital investment from traditional financial institutions, and often relied on
alternative/informal funding. The pandemic has seen reductions in availability of
capital, particularly through FDI and remittances, at just the time that new investment
has been needed to meet increased demand for e-commerce. Lasting improvements
are needed in financing to assist recovery. The development banks, UNCDF and ITC
are among eTrade for all partners that can offer assistance in this area.

Governments and BSOs should assist MSMEs and digital start-ups in building their
financial capabilities in ways that will improve access to investment.

Banks should revise lending criteria, tailoring these to the needs of the emerging
digital economy, innovation and e-commerce.

Entrepreneurs and MSMEs should look beyond traditional lenders towards alternative
funding models.

eTrade for all 101

 SECTION G
FINANCING FOR E-COMMERCE
SUMMARY
Digital start-ups and MSMEs newly engaging in
digital trade require capital investment. So do
established businesses seeking to transition to
e-commerce. Established lending practices of
traditional financial institutions tend to favour larger
firms with established business models and assets
that can be given as collateral. MSMEs seeking to
build e-commerce businesses often find it difficult to
obtain required investment and either under-invest
or seek alternative, less secure investment sources.
This inhibits their effectiveness.
CHALLENGES
Established businesses (large and small) that are
seeking to expand e-commerce or enter into digital
markets, and digital start-ups, all require capital
investment. The lending practices of established
financial institutions tend to be cautious, favouring
larger firms with established business models and
resources that can be provided as collateral. They are
often wary of untested clients and more innovative
projects. Venture capital, which can provide
alternative investment, is more readily available to
businesses in developed than in most developing
countries.
Access to financing is one of the important
bottlenecks experienced by digital businesses in
developing countries and in LDCs in particular.
MSMEs seeking to build e-commerce businesses in
102 A GLOBAL REVIEW
The pandemic has reduced foreign direct investment
and remittances, with available finance likely to
be focused on traditional sectors rather than
innovations that financial institutions consider to
be risky. Some governments and international
agencies have responded through initiatives to
help enterprises identify and access funding and
revise business models. In the longer term, more
substantial interventions are required to increase
investment opportunities for the growing number of
e-commerce enterprises.
developing countries often, therefore, find it difficult
to obtain the investment that they need and either
under-invest or seek less secure and less substantial
funding from alternative sources such as family and
informal lenders. A third of e-commerce enterprises
responding to UNCTAD’s survey in developing
countries identified limited financing for liquidity
shortages as a critical challenge to their business
models.369 Remittances from family members
working overseas are likely to be significant for some
MSMEs and start-ups.
The problems that MSMEs face in raising capital,
particularly for digital investments, are described
in many of the eTrade for all rapid eTrade Readiness
Assessments that have been conducted by UNCTAD
and its partners. In Uganda, for example, access
to finance is described as very challenging for
entrepreneurs and small businesses, with the cost
of acquiring IT equipment and services exacerbated
by high interest rates and stringent eligibility
IMPACT AND RESPONSES
These problems for MSMEs have not lessened
during the pandemic. Indeed, ‘even when demand
grew’, UNCTAD has found, ‘businesses [have]
found it very challenging to adapt and expand to
meet the additional demand. Insufficient funds
to scale-up operations, uncertainty about the
future to undertake new investments, availability
of the required workforce on short notice were
vital challenges, further complicated by health-
related precaution measures. The same constraints
affected the availability of resources dedicated to
communication and visibility, necessary to expose
products and services to potential buyers in the
market’.372
Similar evidence has been found by the UN Capital
Development Fund (UNCDF) for MSMEs in developing
economies more generally. More than half of
respondents to a survey that it conducted among
partners and applicants in April 2020 said that
reductions in income resulting from the pandemic
were likely to put them into financial difficulties within
the next six months.373
Two-thirds of businesses in UNCTAD’s recent survey
of e-commerce businesses had sought to obtain
additional financing during the early phases of the
crisis, divided equally between those seeking finance
for business survival and continuity and those looking
to finance expansion. Only 14 per cent of these had
been successful. Of these, UNCTAD reports, several
had pooled funds from multiple sources. More than a
third relied on informal financing options from family,
friends or saving groups. Another third received
support from banks or microfinance institutions and
a little under that proportion had obtained private
investment.374
Some of the alternative sources of funding that have
been used by MSMEs and start-ups have become
less available during the pandemic.
requirements of local banks.370 Similar problems
are described in e-readiness reports concerning
countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and
Mali.371
• Lower incomes from established businesses
mean that these have less self-generated capital
available for new investments. Alternative
lenders and family members, for similar reasons,
also have fewer funds that they can risk in
nascent enterprises.
• Remittances from family members living overseas
have been a major source of investment for new
firms in many developing countries over recent
decades. In 2019 remittances were a greater
source of capital for developing countries than
foreign direct investment.375 Reports suggest
that these have also substantially reduced
in value during the pandemic as senders of
remittances have experienced job losses and
lower incomes. The World Bank has predicted
that the global value of remittances will fall by
19.7 per cent in 2020 over previous years, and by
more than 20 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa and
South Asia.376
Government interventions to support MSMEs in
general have been available in some countries to
those operating digitally as well as other sectors.
The government of Tunisia, for example, has set up
a digital platform that enables business affected
by the lockdown to apply for grant support related
to tax and other official financial liabilities, as well
as establishing funds to cushion impacts on the
most affected sectors. Lesotho’s government has
established a COVID-19 Private Sector Relief Fund to
assist businesses that have closed during lockdown
with rent and liabilities due to loans.377
Some short-term interventions to support small-
scale e-commerce innovation by MSMEs have also
been reported. For example:
eTrade for all 103

The government of Argentina has
launched a fund to assist financing needs
of businesses wanting to invest in new
digital products to meet challenges arising
from the pandemic.379
THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
The pandemic has, therefore, seen reductions
in availability of capital, including foreign direct
investment and remittances, at just the time that
new investment has been needed to meet increased
demand for e-commerce innovation. While there have
been generalized business support schemes in many
countries, these have focused on maintaining the
104 A GLOBAL REVIEW
In Indonesia, the digital business Gojek has
partnered with the Agriculture Ministry to
help more local farmers and market sellers,
known as “Mitra Tani Markets” in the country,
to sell local produce and staple goods
online.378
In Samoa, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the UN Capital
Development Fund (UNCDF) have worked
with SkyEye Samoa, a local technology
business supported by GSMA, 380 to enhance
uptake of its e-commerce platform, Maua
App, in response to the pandemic. This app
allows registered vendors to upload their
goods and services onto the Maua platform
for potential buyers to purchase through
digital payments in real time.381
viability of existing businesses rather than enabling
new commercial ventures such as e-commerce
start-ups. Lasting improvements in the availability of
funding for investment are needed in order to assist
recovery.
In addition to financial support programmes and
incentives through governments and international
agencies, the eTrade for all initiative’s analysis of
MSME experience in LDCs suggests three priorities
within this area:
• Commercial banks should revise their lending
criteria, tailoring standards and products to the
needs of the emerging digital economy. This may
require them to relax traditional requirements
for collateral and credit histories in order to
assist non-traditional businesses, including
start-ups. It may also require adjustments in
national financial regulations.
• Governments and business support
organizations should do more to help MSMEs
and digital start-ups to build their financial
management capabilities in ways that will
enable them to access and leverage investment.
Particular attention should be paid to business
associations and to businesses led by women,
encouraging partnerships between these and
commercial banks. Interventions of this kind can
be effective at relatively small scales and focus on
supportive infrastructure as well as (or instead
of) direct finance. The government of Indonesia,
for example, has launched the MSMEs Go Online
programme, which provides capacity-building
to expedite digitization and digitalization. The
Republic of Korea is providing support to MSMEs
to build up their capacity in investor relations
and has encouraged brick-and-mortar shops
to open to business online through a dedicated
support programme.382 Cambodia’s government
has established an SME Bank to provide financial
incentives and liquidity support to MSMEs in all
sectors including digital innovation.383
• Entrepreneurs and MSMEs should look beyond
traditional lenders towards alternative funding
models such as public-private partnerships,
incubators and venture capital. One example of a
small-scale, specific initiative along these lines is
a crowdfunding platform established by the UN’s
Capital Development Fund and local partners to
help women and young entrepreneurs in The
Gambia to raise money from friends, family and
the national diaspora.384
Changes in taxation may also be relevant, for both
e-commerce in general and specific products and
services. Some countries in Africa, for instance,
place high rates of duty on computers and other
digital equipment which add to investment costs and
inhibit movement towards e-commerce.385 Reducing
these would lower entry costs for both established
businesses and start-ups seeking to diversify or
initiate e-commerce platforms.
eTrade for all 105
 EMPOWERING WOMEN IN E-COMMERCE

Main
Messages

The pandemic has amplified the barriers many women face that make it harder for
them to benefit from the opportunities of the digital economy and e-commerce than
men. Not only are women more exposed to the virus because they are more likely to
work in service sectors or as front-line workers, but they are often excluded from policy
formulation processes that affect pandemic responses. Women commonly take up more
unpaid work than men (including domestic chores and child home schooling during
lockdowns) while having fewer resources to draw on, experiencing inequalities in access
to the Internet and other resources that enable them to launch businesses. UNCTAD
and its partners in eTrade for Women have worked to address some of these challenges,
through programmes concerned with online training and support, improved data-
gathering and providing access to resources that enable women to participate actively in
the digital economy. These include ITC’s SheTrades programme and work by UN Women
and the EQUALS partnership. Governments and other stakeholders should also support
women digital entrepreneurs by:

• Developing family-friendly responses to the crisis that provide broader social

protection for parents and women in particular, including flexible work arrangements.

• Involving women more actively in policy and regulatory processes, including short-
term responses to the crisis, to recognize and address the unique and unequal
impacts of the crisis on women digital entrepreneurs.

• Creating more meaningful, inclusive opportunities for women entrepreneurs to

expand their connections and networks, and to voice their needs and concerns –
including by engaging with decision-makers and other stakeholders.

• Supporting efforts to develop women entrepreneurs’ skills and capacity to join

e-commerce platforms and to participate more effectively in supply chains. In the
Gambia, for example, ITC’s SheTrades provides one-on-one coaching to entrepreneurs
in the fashion sector so that they can reach international targets online. 386

• Encouraging and incentivizing stakeholders – including the private sector as well as

government – to adopt products that encourage women digital entrepreneurship,
both during the crisis and in the recovery phase, such as dedicated, gender-specific
support, gender-specific capital and/or gender-oriented tax levies.

• Working together, in the long term, to address the broader issues and barriers that
are faced by women digital entrepreneurs, including gender stereotypes, bias and
norms, that prevent them from actively participating in the digital economy.

106 A GLOBAL REVIEW

SECTION H
EMPOWERING WOMEN
IN E-COMMERCE
SUMMARY
The e-Trade for all initiative has a special focus on
women entrepreneurs, who tend to be significantly
under-represented in the ICT sector generally
as well as in the digital economy. 387
In 2019, it
launched the eTrade for Women initiative 388
with
the aim of leveraging the power of women’s digital
entrepreneurship as a force for more inclusive
development.389
The e-Trade for Women initiative helps to empower
women entrepreneurs in developing countries
by leveraging the visibility and networking of
leading women advocates, with the support of the
governments of the Netherlands and Sweden. It
focuses on capacity-building and skills development
to provide women entrepreneurs with the tools
needed to thrive in a rapidly changing digital economy;
to build local, regional and global communities of
women digital entrepreneurs within gender-inclusive
digital economy ecosystems; and to support women
to participate more actively in policy processes that
impact women entrepreneurs at global, regional and
local levels.
Supporting women digital entrepreneurs is
particularly important during and after the pandemic.
As the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for
Action, the year 2020 was expected to be a ground-
breaking celebration for gender equality. The
COVID-19 pandemic, however, risks the loss of gains
that have been made to promote women’s rights and
representation in sectors like e-commerce. As the
United Nations points out: 390
Emerging evidence on the impact of COVID-19
suggests that women’s economic and productive
lives will be affected disproportionately and
differently from men. Across the globe, women
earn less, save less, hold less secure jobs, [and] are
more likely to be employed in the informal sector.
They have less access to social protections and are
the majority of single-parent households. Their
capacity to absorb economic shocks is therefore
less than that of men.
Women’s unequal representation in digital
economies is a reflection of pre-existing gender
inequality and of women’s vulnerability in social,
political, and economic systems.391 This means that,
even before the pandemic, women entrepreneurs
had commonly faced gender-specific barriers that
rendered them unable to benefit equally and fully
from the opportunities offered by e-commerce.392
Times of uncertainty, such as the pandemic, tend to
exacerbate these inequalities. The consultancy firm
McKinsey estimates that women’s jobs are 1.8 times
more vulnerable to the crisis than men’s jobs.393
Before the pandemic, the global gender pay gap was
relatively consistent at 16 per cent, leaving women
more vulnerable to the economic downturn caused
by the crisis.394 Sixty per cent of women’s employment
is in the informal economy (about 740 million women
globally, a majority in services),395 where there are
few protections against dismissal and more limited
access to social security (where that is available).396
Women tend to play a more limited role in global
eTrade for all 107
 business markets, as they own or manage only some Trade outcomes are just as unequal for women as the
20 per cent of export firms, and about a third of the broader gendered impacts of COVID-19, discussed in
world’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.397 more detail below. Often, policies aimed at supporting
MSMEs owned by women tend to be smaller and thus business development and entrepreneurship fail to
more vulnerable to fixed costs, volatile international consider women’s unique ‘positions in value chains,
prices and trade-related regulations and obstacles.398 their multiple roles in society or their access to
assets, skills and networks’.403 Women entrepreneurs
While 85 per cent of women-led SMEs have female
therefore have to navigate shifting global value
chief executives, chief operating officers or chief
chains during COVID-19 while suffering from unequal
financial officers, a survey by ITC in 2017 found
access to information, skills, networks and resources.
that the proportion of women-led firms doubled
when moving from traditional offline trade to cross-
border e-commerce.399 The same survey showed that
three out of four firms trading exclusively through
e-commerce in Africa are women-owned.400

Women also tend to assume a larger share of care

and domestic responsibilities and take responsibility
for decisions that can benefit their families and
broader communities.401 It has been suggested that
if women had the support to be able to produce
under the same conditions as men, this could
contribute significantly to achieving SDGs concerned
with poverty and hunger.402

CHALLENGES

Before the pandemic, women faced a number of containment, support and recovery.411 Women’s
barriers that made it harder for them to benefit general, sexual and reproductive health needs may
from the opportunities of the digital economy and also go unmet – especially as services are diverted
e-commerce. 404
These barriers have been amplified to tackle the pandemic.412 The United Nations
in pandemic conditions.405 The limited research that Population Fund (UNFPA) points out that during the
is available406 suggests, for example, that a majority Zika virus outbreak in 2015/6:413
of small businesses led by women in Sub-Saharan
…women did not have autonomy over their sexual and
Africa have lost their principal source of income
reproductive decisions, which was compounded by
during the pandemic, a much higher rate than that
their inadequate access to health care and insufficient
estimated for small businesses headed by men.407
financial resources to travel to hospitals and health care
Women are also often more exposed to the virus. 408
facilities for check-ups for their children, despite women
Not only do significant numbers of women work doing most of the community spread control activities.
in services industries, but 70 per cent of frontline
Women are said to do three times more unpaid work
healthcare workers are women.409 Tracking work
globally,414 and spend two to ten times more time on
done by UN Women warns that, in some countries,
unpaid work, than men, leaving them with less time
the rate of COVID-19 infections among female health
for business enterprises.415 In Samoa, for example, it
workers is twice that of their male counterparts.410
is reported that women-owned or managed MSMEs
Despite playing a central role in fighting the
face more resilience issues than those owned or
pandemic, women have often been excluded
managed by men as women have to assume greater
from policy formulation processes, in which men
family and social obligations in times of crisis.416
have mostly made decisions about lockdowns,
With lockdowns and the closure of schools in many

108 A GLOBAL REVIEW

places (an estimated 850 million children were home
from school at some point during the pandemic),
women’s workload has increased as childcare and
household obligations often fall to women. 418
Without
time-use data from before lock-downs, however, it is
impossible to know whether and how much more
work women might be doing in crisis circumstances
like the pandemic.
Besides taking women’s time, pandemic conditions
have exacerbated women’s exposure to domestic
violence, which is estimated to have increased by
more than 25 per cent in some countries during
lockdowns.419 In Australia, for example, the office of
the eSafety Commissioner reported that online abuse
and bullying increased in just one month by 50 per
cent compared with the period before lockdown.
Finally, women tend to have fewer resources to draw
upon than men, including inequalities in access to
funding and related resources to enable them to
launch and run businesses,421 access to land,422 and
Internet connectivity and devices.423 In respect of
the latter, which is particularly significant where
RESPONSES AND RECOVERY
Policy and other interventions concerned with
mitigating and recovering from COVID-19 must be
responsive to the unique and unequal impacts that the
pandemic has on women and women entrepreneurs,
ranging from increased care obligations and growing
precarity to enabling opportunities for business
development that can help society to ‘build back
better’.430 While some of the challenges for women
that have arisen as a result of the pandemic require
immediate action, this should not detract from
the need to deal with broader, underlying gender
inequalities that particularly affect women and
women entrepreneurs.431
To understand these inequalities better, more
and better gender-disaggregated data should
be gathered, including data concerning how the
pandemic has affected women digital entrepreneurs.
Very few countries have so far invested in data to
understand the factors that affect women’s ability to
participate in (digital) business.
e-commerce is concerned, the global gender gap in
417
Internet access is currently estimated to be 17 per
cent.424 ITU has warned that this gender gap has
been growing in developing countries, particularly
during the past five years. While in 2013 the gap in
developing countries was 15.8 per cent, by 2019 it
had risen to 22.8 per cent. In LDCs, the estimated
difference has increased from 29.9 per cent in 2013
to 42.8 per cent in 2019.425
Even when connected, women often have inferior
hardware and make less use of the Internet than
their male peers.426 UNCTAD has warned that ‘women
in technology are under-represented and poorly
funded.’427 Women are 30 to 50 per cent less likely
than men to use the Internet to increase their income
420
or participate in public life.428 As a result, significant
proportions of women lack access to the opportunity
to buy and sell online.429
Some examples of short-term interventions that
have occurred during the pandemic shed light upon
these issues:
ITC’s SheTrades initiative has supported women-
led small businesses by offering online training
and support packages, including a Covid-19 Crisis
Management Toolkit to help women plan in times
of uncertainty; a Resilience and Recovery Action
Plan Canvas to help women-owned businesses take
quicker and efficient decisions during the crisis; and
dedicated webinars for different types of women-led
businesses.432
eTrade for all 109

EQUALS, a global coalition for Gender Equality in
the Digital Age, 433
has highlighted the importance
of technology for alleviating the immediate impacts
of lockdowns. One partner, the Latin American
based BBVA Microfinance Foundation (BBVAMF),
provides online support to potentially vulnerable
microentrepreneurs through a range of financial
and non-financial services, which it has made
available virtually during the crisis. With its partner
CARE, BBVAMF initiated a digital financial education
programme to ensure rural female entrepreneurs
have access to basic finance, budgeting, savings and
products.434
UN Women, the Maldives’ National Bureau of
Statistics and certain telecommunications providers
partnered shortly before that country’s first lockdown
to gather data on the impact of the pandemic on
women and men, including that on women’s time.435
Looking towards recovery from the pandemic requires
more than building on these interventions. UNICEF,
ILO and UN Women have called for more ‘family-
friendly’ responses to the crisis to provide broader
social protection to parents – including employment
and income protection, paid leave to care for family
members, flexible working arrangements and access
to good emergency childcare.436
Policymakers can support women digital
entrepreneurs by incentivizing private sector lending
to women (such as gender bonds); encouraging
financing options that serve women’s needs;
providing assistance for training schemes; collecting
gender-disaggregated data on all aspects of
women’s business participation; developing gender-
responsive procurement and crisis response policies;
enabling women to participate in policymaking and
consultation processes pertaining to Covid-19 and
110 A GLOBAL REVIEW
e-trade; and supporting women-led enterprises that
have been hard hit by the pandemic.437
The private sector can support women in business
by considering preferential schemes for women
suppliers; providing incentives to suppliers to include
more women in supply chains; ensuring that services
do reach women in supply chains; giving productive
feedback on procurement tenders; providing prompt
and advance payments to female suppliers; creating
competitive finance schemes based on sustainability
criteria; providing bank guarantees and asset-based
financing for women-led enterprises; and supporting
the digitalization of businesses.438
Unlocking women’s potential to take full advantage of
digital solutions and engage in e-commerce through
entrepreneurship can reinforce women’s economic
empowerment and make them more resilient to
economic shocks. Consultations with e-commerce
SMEs in Africa and Asia-Pacific439 and with members
of the eTrade for Women communities have shown
that businesses that were more advanced in their
digital transformation were less vulnerable and
better able to adapt to the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic.
While most SMEs relying on more traditional business
models have had to cut back their operations,
e-commerce platforms that relied on a digital
business model reported a boost in their activity. In
this light, interventions aimed at supporting women
entrepreneurship and boosting women’s skills and
capacities to lead the digital transformation could
have significant impact and should be included in
ongoing recovery efforts. Three avenues in particular
show promise in this context.
Overcoming existing barriers: Women digital
entrepreneurs from the eTrade for Women
community have reported that the pandemic has
reinforced some of the pre-existing obstacles
that they faced in growing businesses prior to
the crisis, such as high cost of data, poor Internet
connectivity, lack of access to capital, and difficulties
in engaging with cross-border trade. Measures
aimed at establishing a more enabling environment
for women entrepreneurs to create and grow their
digital businesses are important when building
more inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystems
(for instance, access to dedicated gender-specific
support, policy measures to foster or provide gender-
specific capital, and gender-oriented tax incentives
to encourage women digital entrepreneurship).
Increasing women’s visibility and access to
supportive networks: Women digital entrepreneurs
from the eTrade for Women community have
reported that they often lack inspirational role
models. Interactions with peers can be critical
when exploring business opportunities or seeking
guidance in difficult times. Women entrepreneurs
should be offered more opportunities for recognition
as central actors in the digital economy, for example
by expanding and growing their connections and
networks and providing more inclusive platforms in
which they can voice their needs and concerns.
helping them expand their markets; building their
capacities; and fostering more enabling regulatory
and policy environments. The EBRD will use its share
of the grant to focus on Egypt, Morocco and other
countries, while the Islamic Development Bank will
focus on Guinea, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone,
and the World Bank Group will focus on Burkina Faso,
Mali, Mauritania and elsewhere. While the partners
have slightly different orientations and priorities,
they all focus on addressing the specific challenges
for women brought forth by the pandemic.442
These aspects relate to other themes covered in
this chapter, including the need to support women’s
equal participation and use of ICTs.

Enabling women to participate more actively

in decision-making positions, while reflecting
their interests and needs: 440 Women’s lack of
participation in public spaces, coupled with their low
representation in decision-making positions, carry
the risk that their needs and interests will not be taken
sufficiently into account. Enhancing the participation
of women in policy and regulatory processes that
have an impact on digital ecosystems, including
short-term responses during times of crisis, can help
to build more inclusive economies. The government
of Myanmar, for instance, has taken steps toward
addressing women’s needs by conducting extensive
consultations with different stakeholders of the
digital ecosystem, with the support of the eTrade for
all initiative.441

Facilitating access to capital for women digital

entrepreneurs. The Women Entrepreneurs
Finance Initiative is an international initiative that
aims to address financial deficiencies concerned
with women’s access to funding. A collaboration
between the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, the Inter-American Development Bank,
the Islamic Development Bank and the World Bank
Group, its activities focus on four aspects: providing
women entrepreneurs with better access to finance;

eTrade for all 111

 NOTES
199 Swiss Government (Portal of the Federation), 2020 a & b.

200 See: https://www.telam.com.ar/notas/202004/457161-pandemia-paquete-ayuda-estado-5-por-ciento-pbi.html.

201 IMF, 2020d.

202 GOV.UK, 2020.

203 UNECA, 2021.

204 ECLAC, 2021.

205 UN, 2020a.

206 ECLAC, 2021.

207 ESCWA, 2021.

208 Baker, Farrokhnia, Meyer, Pagel and Yannelis, 2020; Taixing, Beixian and Zhichao, 2020.

209 Asia House, 2020.

210 Asia House, 2020.

211 OECD, 2020b.

212 UNCTAD, 2020b.

213 Bain & Co., 2020.

214 Retail Asia, 2020.

215 GOV.UK, 2020.

216 See: https://etradeforall.org/about/.

217 ECLAC, 2021.

218 UNCTAD, 2020b.

219 For example, OECD, 2020b; UNCTAD, 2019g.

220 For example, UNCTAD, 2019g.

221 Ibid.

222 ECLAC, 2021.

223 UNCTAD, 2019g.

224 Ibid.

225 See: http://www.cnp.gov.co/Paginas/CONPES-aprueba-credito-externo-para-modernizacion-de-la-DIAN.aspx.

226 UNCTAD, 2020b.

227 UNECE, 2021.

228 Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, 2020. Also see UNCTAD, 2020d

229 UNCTAD, 2020b.

230 Ibid.

231 For example, Commonwealth Secretariat, 2020; After Access, 2019; ITU, 2019a.

232 For example, Google, Temasek and Bain & Co, 2020.

233 For example, ITU, 2020b; 2020d.

234 UN Broadband Commission on Sustainable Development, 2020.

235 See for example: https://www.2africacable.com.

236 Bloom and Song, 2020.

237 UNCTAD, 2020h.

238 Helsper, 2020.

112 A GLOBAL REVIEW

239 Data derived from https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ITU_regional_global_Key_ICT_indicator_ag
gregates_Nov_2020.xlsx.

240 Gillwald and Mothobi, 2019.

241 ITU, 2019b. Note that the gender gap represents the difference between the Internet user penetration rates for males
and females to the Internet user penetration rate for males, expressed as a percentage.

242 WEF, 2020b; UNCDF, 2020a; UN, 2020c.

243 UNECE, 2020a; Kumar, Chakradhar and Balchin, 2020; Ciuriak, Malkin, Ireland, Stanley, Wilson and Wynne, 2020.

244 ITU, 2019b.

245 UN Broadband Commission on Sustainable Development, 2020.

246 See: https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/backgrounders/Pages/affordability.aspx.

247 OECD, 2019.

248 OECD, 2020b.

249 ECLAC, 2021.

250 See: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/europes-digital-migration-during-

covid-19-getting-past-the-broad-trends-and-averages#, Exhibit 1 including footnote.

251 Ofcom, 2020.

252 ECLAC, 2021.

253 See: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/a-global-view-of-how-consumer-

behavior-is-changing-amid-covid-19.

254 ITU, 2020c.

255 UNECA, 2021.

256 ECLAC, 2021. 

257 European Commission, 2020b. 

258 See: https://reg4covid.itu.int/.

259 See: https://e-commerce.gov.qa/directory/page/2/; UNDESA, 2020a.

260 UNCTAD, 2020b.

261 See: http://reg4covid.itu.int/?page_59&Country-JOR; https://reg4covid.itu.int/?page_id=59&Country=SUD.

262 ITU, 2020c.

263 ECLAC, 2021.

264 See: https://coronaviruscolombia.gov.co/Covid19/docs/decretos/mintic/207_decreto_540_2020.pdf.

265 ECLAC, 2021.

266 UNCTAD, 2020b.

267 ECLAC, 2021.

268 See: https://reg4covid.itu.int.

269 UNCTAD, 2020b.

270 WTO, 2020m.

271 UNCTAD, 2013.

272 ECLAC, 2021.

273 UNCTAD, 2020b.

274 Fernandez, Jenkins and Vieira, 2020.

275 World Bank, 2020e.

276 ECLAC, 2021.

277 World Bank, 2020k.

eTrade for all 113

 278 See: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/financialinclusion/overview#2.

279 UNCTAD, 2019b.

280 GSMA, 2019b.

281 World Bank, 2018.

282 ECLAC, 2021.

283 OECD, 2020c. .

284 Fintech News Hong Kong, 2019.

285 Information from ESCAP.

286 BCG, 2020

287 ECLAC, 2021; https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/45939/5/S2000549_en.pdf.

288 GSMA, 2019b.

289 ESCWA, 2021.

290 https://www.telecompaper.com/news/zamtel-scraps-mobile-money-fees-to-prevent-spread-of-covid-19--1331747.

291 UNCTAD and NetComm Suisse, 2020. Invoices were preferred by Swiss consumers in the sample.

292 ECLAC, 2021.

293 UNCTAD, 2020b

294 Kantar COVID-19 Barometer Round 2 (2020), reported in MercadoLibre, 2020a.

295 OECD, 2020d.

296 Atlas VPN, 2020.

297 Lyons, 2020.

298 World Bank, 2020a.

299 ESCWA, 2021.

300 UNECA, 2021

301 UNCTAD, 2020b.

302 Ibid

303 UNECA, 2021.

304 UNCTAD, 2020b.

305 Ibid

306 ECLAC, 2021.

307 UNCTAD, 2019f; Internet Society, 2019

308 UNCTAD, 2020n.

309 UNECA, 2021

310 UNECE, 2021

311 Buil-Gil, Miró-Llinares, Moneva, Kemp and Díaz-Castaño, 2020; WEF, 2020e and 2020c.

312 UNCTAD, 2020c; UNECE, 2020a; UPU, 2020b

313 See the UN Trade Facilitation Guide: http://tfig.unece.org/details.html#:~:text=For%20UNECE%20and%20its%20UN,buy

er%20and%20to%20make%20payment%E2%80%9D.

314 See UN/CEFACT’S Buy Ship Pay supply chain model: http://tfig.unece.org/contents/buy-ship-pay-model.htm.

315 ESCWA, 2021.

316 ECLAC, 2021.

317 Kang, 2020.

318 UPU, 2020a.

114 A GLOBAL REVIEW

319 UPU, 2020b.

320 UNCTAD, 2018c.

321 ESCWA, 2020b.

322 CEPAL, 2020.

323 ECLAC, 2021.

324 UNECA, 2021.

325 Kang, 2020.

326 UNECA, 2021.

327 UNCTAD, 2020b.

328 Partridge, 2020.

329 UPU, 2020b.

330 UNCTAD 2020o.

331 UNCTAD 2020i.

332 See: decree 1090 (August 3, 2020): https://dapre.presidencia.gov.co/normativa/normativa/DECRETO%201090%20DEL%20

3%20DE%20AGOSTO%20DE%202020.pdf.

337 UNECE, 2021.

338 UNCTAD, 2020k. For the Safe Trade pilot project, see: https://www.trademarkea.com/safetrade/.

333 ECLAC, 2021.

334 UNCTAD, 2020a; 2020b.

335 UPU, 2020c.

336 Ibid.

339 ECLAC, 2021. See also: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/produccion/asistencia-digital-para-pymes.

340 ESCWA, 2021.

341 See: https://sites.google.com/view/medidas-covid-19-costa-rica/inicio/plataformas-de-comercializaci%C3%B3n-para-su-em

prendimiento-o-pyme?authuser=0.

342 UNECA, 2021; See also https://fashionomicsafrica.org/.

343 UNECA, 2021; See also https://www.un.org/africarenewal/news/coronavirus/new-africa-marketplace-explorer-ena

bles-small-businesses-understand-africa%E2%80%99s-nascent-e-commerce.

344 See: https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/cefact/GuidanceMaterials/WhitePapers/WP_MSMEs-ISMIT_Eng.pdf.

345 ECLAC, 2021; c.f. ESCAP, 2019a.

346 ECLAC, 2021.

347 See: African Development Bank, 2020b.

348 UNECE, 2021.

349 ECLAC, 2021.

350 ESCWA, 2021.

351 UN, 2020c; UNECE, 2020a; Drzeniek, Tambourgi and Marchesa, 2020; Kumar, Chakradhar and Balchin, 2020; Ciuriak, Malk
in, Ireland, Stanley, Wilson and Wynne, 2020.

352 ESCWA, 2021.

353 See: https://unctad.org/topic/e-commerce-and-digital-economy/e-commerce-law-reform/summary-adoption-e-com

merce-legislation-worldwide.

354 ESCWA, 2021.

355 UNCTAD, 2020l.

356 UNCTAD, 2020b.

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 357 Ibid.

358 Ibid.

359 ESCWA, 2021.

360 UNCTAD, 2020n.

361 For example, UNCTAD 2019b; 2019d; 2019e; 2019g; 2020j.

362 ECLAC, 2021.

363 See: https://sites.google.com/view/medidas-covid-19-costa-rica/inicio/plataformas-de-comercializaci%C3%B3n-para-su-em

prendimiento-o-pyme?authuser=0 and https://comprepyme.com/.

364 UNCTAD, 2020n.

365 See: https://accelerate2030.net/; ECLAC, 2021.

366 ECLAC, 2021; OAS, 2019.

367 IADB, 2020b.

368 ECLAC, 2021.

369 UNCTAD, 2020b.

370 UNCTAD, 2018b.

371 Reports are available at: https://unctad.org/official-documents-search?f[0]=product%3A603.

372 UNCTAD, 2020b.

373 UNCTAD, 2020g.

374 UNCTAD, 2020b.

375 FT, 2020; UNCDF, 2020a, 2020d.

376 World Bank and KNOMAD, 2020.

377 UNCTAD, 2020b.

378 See: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/obtener-aportes-no-reembolsables-para-soluciones-innovadoras-de-la-econo

mia-del-conocimiento/preguntas-frecuentes.

379 Loh, 2020; information from ESCAP.

380 Middleton, 2020.

381 UNDP, 2020; ESCAP, 2020f.

382 G20, 2020; information from ESCAP.

383 UNCTAD, 2020b.

384 UNCDF, 2020e.

385 UNECA, 2021

386 Ssemuwemba, 2020.

387 Afsar, 2020; CUTS International, 2018.

388 See: etradeforall.org/etradeforwomen.

389 Learn more about the initiative at: https://etradeforall.org/etrade-for-women/.

390 UN, 2020d.

391 Ibid, Afsar, 2020.

392 WTO, 2020h; Bandyopadhyay andGrollier, 2018.

393 McKinsey, 2020a.

394 UN Global Compact, 2020.

395 World Bank, 2020f.

396 UN Women, 2020b.

116 A GLOBAL REVIEW

397 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

398 UNCTAD, 2020m.

399 ITC, 2017. The findings are based on a survey conducted by ITC in 2017 among more than 2,200 MSMEs in 111 countries
to identify the challenges they face when engaging in e-commerce; including firms from developed and developing coun
tries, as well as LDCs.

400 Ibid.

401 Ibid.

402 IADB, 2020a.

403 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

404 Ismail, Stuurman, Sajous and Grollier, 2020; Mbogori, 2020; UNCDF, 2020d; World Bank, 2020l; Bandyopadhyay and Grol
lier, 2018; Sicat, Xu, Mehetaj, Ferrantino and Chemutai, n.d.

405 Power, 2020.

406 UNCTAD, 2020e.

407 Gathii and Gaitha, 2020.

408 UN Women, 2020b.

409 UN Global Compact, 2020; ERIA, 2020a.

410 UN Women, 2020b.

411 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

412 World Bank, 2020f; UNFPA, 2020; UN Women, 2020b.

413 UNFPA, 2020.

414 UN Global Compact, 2020.

415 UN Global Compact, 2020.

416 ESCAP, 2020f.

417 UN Global Compact, 2020.

418 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

419 UN Global Compact, 2020; Women’s Empowerment Principles, 2020; World Bank, 2020f.

420 UN Global Compact, 2020; Women’s Empowerment Principles, 2020; World Bank, 2020f.

421 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

422 IADB, 2020a.

423 For example, IDB, 2020.

424 ITU, 2019b.

425 Ibid. Note that the gender gap represents the difference between the Internet user penetration rates for males and fe
males to the Internet user penetration rate for males, expressed as a percentage.

426 Bandyopadhyay and Grollier, 2018.

427 UNCTAD, 2019a.

428 Ssemuwemba, 2020.

429 ITU and UNECA, 2020.

430 UN Global Compact, 2020.

431 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

432 See: https://www.shetrades.com/en/covid-19.

433 See: https://www.equals.org/about-us.

434 Burelli, 2020.

eTrade for all 117

 435 UN Women, 2020c.

436 UNICEF, ILO and UN Women, 2020.

437 ITC, ICC, UPS and Women 20, 2020.

438 Ibid.

439 UNCTAD, 2020b.

440 ITC, 2020b.

441 UNCTAD, 2020d.

442 See: https://we-fi.org.

118 A GLOBAL REVIEW

eTrade for all 119
4

THE WAY
FORWARD:
LEVERAGING
ETRADE FOR ALL

120 A GLOBAL REVIEW

 Main
Messages

E-commerce offers developing countries new ways of building economic advantage, creating
jobs and enterprises, and facilitating progress towards achieving SDGs. Countries whose
governments create an enabling environment for e-commerce and whose businesses seize
those opportunities will be well-placed to benefit from it. Those that do not, however, risk
falling further behind.

A number of critical barriers to successful leveraging of e-commerce, particularly in developing

countries and LDCs, have been identified by UNCTAD and its eTrade for all partners. These
are concerned with the development of e-commerce strategies, infrastructure, payments,
logistics, regulation, skills and finance. Attention also must be paid to inclusiveness, including
the role of women digital entrepreneurs whose needs and interests have often been neglected.

Efforts to address these barriers, through a comprehensive approach involving both

governments and business, will help to leverage the benefits of e-commerce and mitigate
potential problems. Such efforts require commitment on the part of governments, engagement
on the part of business, and resources to support infrastructure and skills development,
regulatory reform, and the restructuring and reorientation of business models. The eTrade for
all initiative illustrates the potential for building synergies between national and international
stakeholders to address this need, including development partners and financial institutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of e-commerce, within a context of global
economic downturn, increasing its share of international and domestic trade. Measures taken
to control infection, including movement controls, and public anxiety about social interaction
have increased demand for digital services and online shopping, leading more people to
make use of digital channels than was previously the case. There has also been significant
growth in the use of digital payment mechanisms. A substantial part of the resulting growth
in e-commerce is likely to be permanent. The pandemic has therefore strengthened the case
for governments and businesses to build their capacities for managing e-commerce and their
presence in e-commerce markets.

Experience during the pandemic has reinforced the analysis and understanding of barriers to
e-commerce growth that had been developed by UNCTAD and its partners in the eTrade for
all initiative, and has given greater emphasis to the importance of policies and programmes
to overcome those barriers. As stated above: countries that develop such policies and
programmes will be able to leverage the benefits and ‘build back better’; those that do not
risk being left behind.

All stakeholders – governments, businesses, consumers and international development

partners – have an interest in ensuring that e-commerce plays a positive and powerful part
in national and international recovery from the pandemic. Resources should be committed to
that goal. UNCTAD and its partners in the eTrade for all initiative will continue to play their part
by advocating relevant policy approaches, supporting assessments of national e-commerce
environments, and fostering collaborations between national and international stakeholders
to maximize the synergies that can contribute to enabling e-commerce for development.

eTrade for all 121

 T
his chapter summarizes the findings and recommendations made
in the report. Governments, businesses and development partners
are encouraged, in each of the eight areas described, to explore what
opportunities and resources are available from eTrade for all partners and
to maximize potential value and synergies from the initiative, fostering
cost-effective interventions while avoiding duplication. Illustrations of the
contributions that partners offer are included.

122 A GLOBAL REVIEW

This report has considered the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on the progress of e-commerce across
different world regions, the part that e-commerce
has played in economic activity during the crisis, and
its potential role in supporting recovery as the world
economy emerges from the pandemic in due course.
The report findings confirm that technologies can be
drivers of major change, and significantly contribute
to sustainable development. Positive outcomes,
however, cannot be taken for granted.
Many conclusions are necessarily provisional. The
pandemic is still underway at the time of publication,
and its duration and trajectory remain highly
uncertain. 443
Evidence on impacts to date is limited
and will evolve as the crisis continues. Data sets
illustrating the impact of the pandemic are much
more widely available for the first half of 2020, when
the pandemic was in its first phase in most countries,
than they are for more recent phases. Examples
of business and government responses are also,
thereby, skewed towards short-term responses
designed to mitigate COVID-19’s immediate impact
rather than longer-term responses oriented towards
recovery.
It is crucial that governments, businesses and
development partners use what is currently known
to plan ahead, in order to maximize the contribution
of e-commerce to expedite and facilitate equitable
economic recovery within the framework
sustainable development and to ‘build back better’.
Two central messages emerge from the report.
• The first is that the pandemic and the restrictions
on movement that have been introduced to
contain its spread have accelerated many
aspects of digital transformation including the
development of e-commerce. While there have
been substantial reductions in trade overall, the
share of trade taken by online commerce has
grown, particularly in domestic markets where
online shopping has necessarily substituted for
many previously offline transactions. This has
been accompanied by a further increase in the
use of non-cash payments in many countries.
• The second is that countries with greater
e-commerce capabilities have been better
placed to mitigate some of the challenges of the
pandemic, are in a better position to recover
from the current crisis and will be more resilient
in the face of future crises than those that are
less well-prepared.
The critical global policy challenge that emerges
from this is that more attention needs to be given –
and given urgently – to efforts that can help reduce
the inequalities in e-trade readiness that currently
prevail among countries. Without such efforts, many
developing countries will struggle to improve their
prospects following recovery, which could increase
the risk of widening inequality rather than greater
equality in economic opportunities and outcomes.
That in turn would make it more difficult to achieve
the SDGs.
Meeting this challenge must be handled against the
backdrop of other intense pressures on government
and development partners, some of which (such as
the SDGs and climate change) are long-established
goals for international action while others arise from
social dislocation and economic recession brought
about by the pandemic.
The pandemic has demonstrated and, in some
cases, intensified the challenges to e-commerce
development that have previously been identified by
the eTrade for all initiative and that were explored in
CHAPTER 3:
of
a) E-commerce readiness assessments and
strategy formulation
b) ICT infrastructure and services
c) Trade logistics and trade facilitation
d) Payment solutions
e) Legal and regulatory frameworks
f) E-commerce skills development
g) Access to financing for e-commerce
h) Empowering women entrepreneurs
in developing countries
eTrade for all 123
 It has also created windows of opportunity for
those who have been prepared to leverage digital
opportunities:
• for businesses to reach into new markets of
potential national as well as commercial value;
• for governments to reset inadequate regulatory
frameworks in the wider digital and business
regulation contexts; and
• for development partners to give renewed
attention to the digital dimensions
development.
It is unclear how far changes in economic activity and
consumer behaviour resulting from the pandemic
will continue after recovery. This is likely to depend
partly on the time it takes to return from crisis to
normal health conditions.
As in all cases of major disruption, there will be
winners and losers: businesses and communities
that will gain from them and others whose livelihoods
are and will be threatened. Policy interventions
need to pay attention to both winners and losers,
facilitating investment and enabling environments
for e-commerce to develop, but also supporting
ways forward for those who have been or may be
adversely affected by the economic restructuring
that goes with digital transformation.
The pandemic has resulted in significant reductions
in government revenues. In light of these, and of
the pace of change, it will be crucial to explore
approaches that are robustly based on evidence,
avoid duplication and leverage the synergies that can
MAIN FINDINGS
E-commerce is playing a growing role, as part of the
wider digital economy, in sustainable development -
bringing both new opportunities and new challenges
in relation to the SDGs. Its growth, however, is
inhibited in many developing countries by a range
of barriers. Countries that overcome these and
establish enabling frameworks for e-commerce will
be better placed to leverage its potential benefits
and address challenges, both domestically and
internationally, while those that fail to do so risk
124 A GLOBAL REVIEW
be derived from effective partnership. The eTrade for
all initiative offers such an opportunity. It has been
active for more than four years and has seen its
membership more than double, from fourteen to 32
partners, since 2016.
This study conducted jointly by UNCTAD and four
UN Regional Commissions, with the active support
of several other partners in eTrade for all, is an
illustration of how different international and civil
society organizations can join forces through such
of collaborations to develop a better understanding of
e-commerce and leverage synergies to address gaps
and barriers to inclusive e-commerce development.
The result is a rich comparative compendium
detailing how different regions have responded to
the crisis, including some insights into responses
that appear, provisionally, to have worked well and
those that appear to have been less successful.
This final chapter of the report focuses on how the
eTrade for all partnership can provide leverage to
promote more inclusive developmental outcomes
during recovery from the pandemic. It briefly reflects
on lessons learned that will help governments,
businesses and development partners to prepare
for the challenges and needs of future crises. It
discusses ways in which eTrade for all can help
bridge gaps in current policy and practice in order to
achieve goals for recovery. It also highlights the need
for better statistics on e-commerce that can provide
a stronger evidence base for policymakers and
business decision makers. The chapter concludes by
outlining key goals for governments, businesses and
development partners.
becoming less dynamic at home and less competitive
abroad. Without adequate policy frameworks there
is a risk that digital innovation will increase inequality.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the
importance of addressing barriers to e-commerce in
order to leverage the benefits that can be derived
from it and cope with the potential downsides
of digital transformation. In particular, it has
given further impetus to the growth of domestic
e-commerce, though the impact on international
e-trade (as on international trade in general) has
been less positive.
The extent to which trends experienced during the
crisis will continue during recovery is uncertain and
will depend, inter alia, on the pace of recovery and
the nature and extent of measures taken to facilitate
it. Many consumers expect to continue spending
more online after the crisis than they did before.
Experience of online entertainment services (and the
fact that more people have crossed entry barriers)
is likely to sustain higher usage levels where they
are concerned. Many employers are considering
blending office and homeworking. E-commerce
platforms are therefore likely to retain many, though
perhaps not all, of the gains in market share that
they have made during the pandemic vis-à-vis offline
markets.
Learning from the experience of the pandemic is
important in short, medium and longer terms.
In the short term, a number of steps can be taken by
businesses and governments to mitigate the impact
of a crisis like the pandemic on individual businesses
and wider national economies, including ways to
sustain and grow e-commerce.
In the medium term, the pandemic has raised
awareness of the more substantial, lasting changes
to the environment for trade that, if implemented, can
leverage the benefits of e-commerce for enterprise
and national economic growth.
In the long term, it alerts governments and
businesses to the risks of future pandemics or other
large-scale threats to business viability and national
prosperity and thereby, if sufficient attention is paid
and action taken, enable better risk assessment,
forward planning and resilience.
Long-term implications, however, reach beyond
resilience in future pandemics. As the shift to the
digital economy becomes accentuated, greater
efforts are required to ensure that businesses in
developing countries are equipped to participate
effectively. This will require more rapid digitalization
of small businesses, greater attention to digital
entrepreneurship, improved capacity to make use of
data and platforms, stronger regulatory frameworks
to promote the creation and capture of value in
the digital economy, and a shift in entrepreneurial
mindsets from usage and consumption in the digital
economy to innovation and production.
As discussed in the 2019 Digital Economy Report,444
boosting entrepreneurship in digital and digitally
enabled sectors will be critical to local value creation.
In many developing countries, digital entrepreneurs
face a number of barriers to establishing and growing
businesses and scaling their activities. Global digital
competitors already occupy digital product markets
that are most readily scalable and are better resourced
to build on that advantage. Servicing local markets
digitally in developing countries often requires the
establishment of processes and platforms that blend
analogue and digital approaches, rather than the
asset-light approaches used by digital platforms
in more highly connected economies. In many
developing countries, the best market opportunities
for local digital entrepreneurs may lie in local and/or
regional markets for digital goods and services that
leverage local/regional needs and demands. This
should be an important consideration in the design
of national e-commerce strategies and policies.
ECLAC stressed the importance of coordinated
action in its report:
As has become evident from the challenges that LAC
[the Latin America and Caribbean region] needs to
address, the development of a thriving digital trade
environment in the region depends not only on the
quality of digital infrastructure, trade facilitation,
and logistics, but also on the incentives, the level
of certainty, and trustworthiness provided by the
regulatory and legal frameworks, including those
for digital security and online consumer protection.
The design of these frameworks should be a multi-
stakeholder, industry-participated process, where
actors from the private sector and civil society can
bring in lessons learned from the experience of
other countries and regions.445
As this suggests, addressing the barriers and leveraging
the benefits identified in CHAPTER 3 should be a
holistic exercise. They intersect and interact with one
another. Comprehensive approaches to addressing
them will be more successful than treating them
in silos. The COVID-19 crisis has accentuated the
need for more integrated approaches at national
and regional levels and stronger coordination
mechanisms at global level.
eTrade for all 125
 THE eTRADE FOR ALL INITIATIVE

Inclusive leveraging of digital opportunities will special attention is given to women in e-commerce
be an essential part of global and national efforts development and to the measurement of e-commerce
to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and foster and the digital economy.
post COVID-19 recovery. Launched in July 2016 at
The initiative’s goal is to bring the donor community,
UNCTAD’s 14th Ministerial conference in Nairobi,
development agencies, international and non-
eTrade for all brings together beneficiary countries,
governmental organizations together, to share
partners and donors to enhance the development
digital solutions, support e-commerce and facilitate
benefits from e-commerce for all within societies.
greater coherence in policymaking on digital trade.
The call to go beyond sector-by-sector silos towards
As illustrated in Figure 4.1, eTrade for all partners
a comprehensive approach is a raison d’être of
complement each other in terms of expertise and
the initiative. It seeks to serve as a catalyst for
activities to support the efforts of developing
smart partnership and has become a valuable and
countries to strengthen e-trade readiness. It is only by
valued resource for the development community
bringing these actors together that the development
in its efforts to help countries trailing in the digital
community can respond effectively to the challenge
economy to build back better.
of building back better in the context of e-commerce.
At the heart of the initiative is the eTrade for all online
This approach has demonstrated its relevance and
platform, an information hub to help developing
value during the first four years of the initiative,447
countries navigate the range of technical and
which can now build on that experience and leverage
financial services and drive development through
its outcomes and achievements to date to play
e-commerce that are available from eTrade for all
an even bigger part in post-crisis recovery. This
partners. Through the platform, developing country
objective is consistent with the recommendations
stakeholders can connect with potential partners,
of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel
learn about trends and best practices, access up-to-
on Digital Cooperation448 and his Road Map for
date e-commerce data, and gain information about
Digital Cooperation,449 which seek to enhance multi-
forthcoming e-commerce events. The platform was
stakeholder cooperation in the digital age.
used by more than 71,000 visitors during the period
October 2019 to October 2020, 60 per cent who were
based in developing countries.

The eTrade for all platform446 is structured around

the same seven policy areas of particular relevance
to e-commerce development that have been
addressed in this report. In addition to these topics,

126 A GLOBAL REVIEW

FIGURE 4.1 – ETRADE FOR ALL PARTNERS AND AREAS OF FOCUS

ETRADE FOR ALL POLICY AREAS

PARTNERS

E-commerce ICT infra- Payment Trade logistics Legal Skills Financing

strategy structure solutions and facilitation frameworks development SMEs

ACSIS ✔
AfDB ✔ ✔ ✔
Commonwealth
Secretariat ✔ ✔ ✔
Consumers
International ✔ ✔
CUTS ✔
DiPLO ✔
ECA ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
ECLAC ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
EIF ✔ ✔
ESCAP ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
ESCWA ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
E-Resi- ✔ ✔
dency
IAP ✔ ✔
ICAO ✔ ✔
IDB ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
ILO ✔ ✔
ISOC ✔ ✔
ITFC ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
ITC ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
ITU ✔ ✔ ✔
South ✔ ✔
Centre
UNCDF ✔ ✔ ✔
UNCITRAL ✔ ✔
UNCTAD ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
UNECE ✔ ✔ ✔
UNIDO ✔ ✔ ✔
UPU ✔ ✔ ✔
WBG ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
WCO ✔ ✔
WEF ✔
WIPO ✔
WTO ✔ ✔
Note : list of eTrade for all partners who could assist in the various policy areas in accordance to their mandate and expertise.

eTrade for all 127

 RESPONDING TO POLICY CHALLENGES:
MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS

The following paragraphs summarize the findings available from eTrade for all partners and to maximize
and recommendations made in the report. potential value and synergies from the initiative,
Governments, businesses and development partners fostering cost-effective interventions while avoiding
are encouraged, in each of the eight areas described, duplication. Illustrations of the contributions that
to explore what opportunities and resources are partners offer are included.

a. The impact of the pandemic

The need for eTrade Readiness Assessments and • establishing/developing strategies for
strategy formulation in enabling recovery has been e-commerce that are integrated into broader
intensified by the pandemic. Countries in which national development and implemented through
governments are well-informed about e-commerce coherent governance structures;
and have coherent strategies in place have been able
• strengthening interministerial and
to respond to the sector’s needs more quickly and
interdepartmental dialogue for effective
effectively. This will be as true after the pandemic as
coordination;
it is during the crisis. A large number of eTrade for all
partners already offer assistance in this area. In light • fostering dialogue between government,
of the analysis in CHAPTER 3, governments should businesses and business associations (on both
focus on: demand and supply sides of e-commerce) and
consumer representatives;
• systematic data gathering and evaluation of the
impact of policies and business practices; • facilitating public/private collaboration to build
awareness and trust in e-commerce among
• identification of critical gaps requiring
merchants and consumers.
intervention;

b. ICT infrastructure and services

Limitations in infrastructure and in services to Governments and network operators should focus
support local e-commerce have been thrown into on:
greater relief by the pandemic. More bandwidth
• encouraging investment in international
and improved quality and resilience will facilitate
and domestic connectivity through enabling
international e-commerce. More universal and
regulatory frameworks, with particular
affordable broadband access will encourage more
attention to inclusion of areas that are currently
people to shop and sell online. As with strategy
underserved (such as remote and rural areas);
development, this will be as true after the pandemic
as during the crisis. The eTrade for all partners, • investing in partnership, including public-private
including the World Bank Group, regional banks, partnerships and partnerships with international
and ITU, can provide valuable assistance in this area.

128 A GLOBAL REVIEW

 agencies, to improve network deployment in becomes available to all as recommended by
underserved and potentially less profitable the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable
areas, to ensure progress towards universal Development; and
broadband access;
• supporting information services, portals and
• taking steps to reduce digital divides within e-commerce platforms that are oriented towards
countries, particularly the gender digital local businesses’ and consumers’ needs.
divide, improve affordability of access for local
consumers and ensure that affordable access

c. Payments

The pandemic has demonstrated the value of digital • establishing enabling financial and digital
and cashless payment mechanisms in enabling regulatory frameworks that ensure ease
transactions to be made at distance, although of use and security for digital transactions,
cash culture is still prevalent in many countries, including measures concerned with electronic
especially in LDCs. Increasing the acceptance and transactions, cybersecurity and consumer
adoption of cashless payments will hasten short- protection;
term recovery from the crisis and lay the ground
• encouraging interoperability within a
for stronger e-commerce in future. UNCDF, UPU
competitive banking environment, to facilitate
and development banks are among eTrade for all
seamless interbank transfers, reduce friction in
partners that can make valuable contributions in
transactions and lower costs; and
this context. Governments and other stakeholders
should focus on: • simplifying digital transaction mechanisms (and
lowering or reducing entry costs) to incentivize
• raising awareness of the benefits of digital
adoption by those at lower income levels.
transactions among merchants and consumers;

d. Trade logistics

Inefficient transport and trade logistics, which reduce
the cost and speed advantages that digital transactions
offer merchants, have been accentuated during the
pandemic, particularly for small consignments from
MSMEs. Pandemic conditions have also accentuated
weaknesses in infrastructure for delivery of parcels.
Some governments have introduced information
resources, portals and platforms during the
pandemic to assist MSMEs and start-ups to establish
e-commerce initiatives. Regional Commissions of the
United Nations, ICAO, ITC, UNCTAD, UPU, WCO, WTO
and other eTrade for all partners offer programmes
to support improvements in trade logistics and trade
facilitation. Governments and other stakeholders
should focus on:

eTrade for all 129

 • facilitating the digitalization of international • considering the introduction of de minimis duty
trade by adopting the provisions of WTO’s exemptions for low-value shipments;
Trade Facilitation Agreement, implementing
• investing in improvements to postal networks,
standardized paperless documentation formats,
including the introduction of comprehensive
single window processes and other mechanisms
physical addressing, and enabling innovative/
to smooth the flow of goods along transport
competitive delivery mechanisms; and
corridors and through border crossings;
• supporting the establishment of information
• investing in transport infrastructure, including
resources, portals and platforms that assist
ports, airports and border crossings, which are
MSMEs to enter e-commerce markets.
critical to enabling cost-effective distribution of
inbound and outbound goods that are ordered
online from other countries;

e. Legal and regulatory frameworks

The effective implementation of e-commerce requires
sophisticated and comprehensive legal and regulatory
frameworks concerned with ease of doing business
and with aspects of digitalization including electronic
signatures and transactions, data management,
consumer protection and cybersecurity, which are
still inadequately implemented in many countries.
The pandemic has demonstrated their importance
in providing a safe, trusted, efficient and secure
environment for both merchants and consumers. The
eTrade for all partners, including the Commonwealth
Secretariat, Consumers International, CUTS, ITU, the
South Centre, UNCITRAL, UNCTAD and the WTO, all
offer support in this area. Governments and other
stakeholders should focus on:
• undertaking a regulatory gap analysis in existing
law and practice to identify where new measures
are required;
• working together to develop a holistic approach
to legislation and regulation across government,
in line with national e-commerce strategies;
• relaxing regulations that inhibit or delay business
start-ups and rapid, responsive innovations in
business practice (which are particularly relevant
to e-commerce ventures);
• introducing new legislation and regulations
expeditiously, but with full due diligence, in
critical areas for e-commerce such as electronic
transactions, data and consumer protection
and cybersecurity, together with appropriate
enforcement mechanisms; and
• building awareness and capacity for legal
adoption and enforcement by government,
parliament and the judiciary, and for compliance
by business.

f. Skills development
The pandemic has shown that many MSMEs, among eTrade for all members that can be leveraged.
especially in developing countries, have lacked the Governments and other stakeholders should focus
business and technical skills to leverage e-commerce on:
opportunities. Many consumers, especially those
• working across government to support
new to ICTs, have lacked the digital literacy skills
retraining and the development of skills required
required to make best use of opportunities to shop
for growing digital societies and economies;
online. Addressing skill shortages takes time and can
benefit from good practices from around the world. • enabling partnerships (including enterprise
In this context, there is a wide range of expertise

130 A GLOBAL REVIEW

 development hubs, incubators, business schools • establishing national e-procurement platforms
and educational institutions) to provide practical and portals to assist MSMEs and start-ups
training in e-commerce, tailored to local job access international and domestic e-commerce
markets and business experience; markets;

• building skills among relevant parts of the • supporting domestic e-commerce platforms that
government and parliament to raise their ability are accessible to all groups within the population,
to formulate, implement and enforce relevant including those with fewer language skills; and
policies, laws and regulations;
• improving digital literacy and awareness-
• strengthening the capabilities of domestic IT building among consumers.
sectors, which have an important part to play in
supporting local digital transformation without
overdependence on external platforms and
technology providers;

• ensuring inclusion of women and girls who are

under-represented in e-commerce and find it
more difficult at present, in many countries, to
obtain relevant skills and investment;

• retraining staff in business support organizations

(BSOs) to improve their ability to support
e-commerce MSMEs and start-ups;

g. Financing for e-commerce

MSMEs and e-commerce start-ups found it difficult
before the pandemic to access capital investment
from traditional financial institutions, and often relied
on alternative/informal funding. The pandemic has
seen reductions in availability of capital, particularly
through FDI and remittances, at just the time that
new investment has been needed to meet increased
demand for e-commerce. Lasting improvements
are needed in financing to assist recovery. The
development banks, UNCDF and ITC are among
eTrade for all partners that can offer assistance in
this area.
• Governments and BSOs should assist MSMEs
and digital start-ups to build their financial
capabilities in ways that will improve access to
investment.
• Banks should revise lending criteria, tailoring
these to the needs of the emerging digital
economy, innovation and e-commerce.
• Entrepreneurs and MSMEs should look beyond
traditional lenders towards alternative funding
models.

eTrade for all 131

 h. eTrade for Women

The pandemic has amplified the barriers many
women face that make it harder for them to benefit
from the opportunities of the digital economy and
e-commerce than men. Not only are women more
exposed to the virus because they are more likely
to work in service sectors or as front-line workers,
but they are often excluded from policy formulation
processes that affect pandemic responses. Women
commonly take up more unpaid work than men
(including domestic chores and child home schooling
during lock-downs) while having fewer resources
to draw on, experiencing inequalities in access to
the Internet and other resources that enable them
to launch businesses. UNCTAD and its partners in
eTrade for Women have worked to address some of
these challenges, through programmes concerned
with online training and support, improved data-
gathering and facilitating providing access to
resources that enable women to participate actively
in the digital economy. These include ITC’s SheTrades
programme and work by UN Women and the EQUALS
partnership. Governments and other stakeholders
should also support women digital entrepreneurs
by:
• Developing family-friendly responses to the
crisis that provide broader social protection
for parents and women in particular, including
flexible work arrangements.
• Creating more meaningful, inclusive
opportunities for women entrepreneurs to
expand their connections and networks, and
to voice their needs and concerns – including
by engaging with decision makers and other
stakeholders.
• Supporting efforts to develop women
entrepreneurs’ skills and capacity to join
e-commerce platforms and to participate more
effectively in supply chains. In the Gambia, for
example, ITC’s SheTrades provides one-on-one
coaching to entrepreneurs in the fashion sector
so that they can reach international targets
online.450
• Encouraging and incentivizing stakeholders –
including the private sector as well as government
– to adopt products that encourage women
digital entrepreneurship, both during the crisis
and in the recovery phase, such as dedicated,
gender-specific support, gender-specific capital
and/or gender-oriented tax levies.
• Working together, in the long term, to address
the broader issues and barriers that are faced by
women digital entrepreneurs, including gender
stereotypes, bias and norms, that prevent them
from actively participating in the digital economy.

• Involving women more actively in policy and

regulatory processes, including short-term
responses to the crisis, to recognize and address
the unique and unequal impacts of the crisis on
women digital entrepreneurs.

132 A GLOBAL REVIEW

BOX 3.2 Addressing the need for better statistics

Global efforts at raising the e-trade readiness of developing countries are severely hampered by underlying
deficiencies in the evidence base, particularly statistics, that are needed to inform policymaking at national
and international levels. There are three particular problems.

First, there has been little systematic gathering of data on the digital economy and e-commerce to common
standards. Standard approaches to measuring digital trade are now emerging, including handbooks and
manuals published by OECD, WTO, IMF and UNCTAD, while work on the digital economy is continuing within
the framework of the G20 group of nations. It will take time, however, before standard methodologies are
extensively deployed. The lack of consistent longitudinal datasets concerned with developments to date,
which illustrate trends, will continue to be problematic.

Second, data that are collected are disproportionately available for developed country markets as
against those of developing countries and particularly LDCs. This tends to skew analysis of e-commerce
developments and places policymakers in developing countries and LDCs at a serious disadvantage.
Generalizations from developed country data are unwise because the economic and digital environments
and experience of e-commerce differ markedly between developed and developing countries, as well as
within each of these groups. More systematic and more reliable data, gathered rapidly and frequently, are
needed in all countries and regions.

Third, data are poorly disaggregated. It is insufficient to gather data on e-commerce as a whole, because
policy responses require understanding of different market segments – international corporations,
large local businesses and MSMEs; traditional retailers, digital marketplaces and e-commerce start-ups;
businesses focused on international and domestic markets; formal and informal traders; the experience
of men and women entrepreneurs; merchants of essential goods and luxuries, etc. It is equally insufficient
to gather data on consumers as a homogeneous group, because policy responses and business plans
require sophisticated, nuanced understanding of who buys what, where, when and how.

Such data deficiencies are widespread within the digital economy and digital society more generally.
Although digital activities depend on data, and tremendous volumes of data are continually gathered
through them, those data are often treated as commercially confidential, not least by platforms, and the
data sets available for policy analysis by governments and business planning by smaller businesses are
limited. Public-private partnership to improve data-gathering, data management and data analysis would
be beneficial to both governments and businesses.

A number of resources are available from eTrade for all partners that can be harnessed to improve the
availability of relevant data and statistics. These include resources from UNCTAD, WTO and WCO, WTO, ITU
and UPU, from the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development451 and from UNCTAD’s Working Group
on Measuring E-Commerce and the Digital Economy.452 UNCTAD’s revised Manual for the Production of
Statistics on the Digital Economy,453 will be published in 2021.

eTrade for all 133

 GOALS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
While this summary of findings and recommendations
has relevance to many countries, differences between
national contexts are crucial and must be reflected in
national strategies. Business plans must be relevant
to local economic circumstances and the capabilities
of individual firms. Interventions must be consistent
with national legal frameworks and feasible with the
resources that are available, whether in-country or
through development partners.
Some groups of countries have particular
requirements. Most of the recommendations made
above are particularly relevant to LDCs. Landlocked
countries face specific challenges because of their
dependence on trade corridors through neighbouring
states (including, sometimes, conflict zones). The
special circumstances of Small Island Developing
States – geographic isolation, small populations,
dependence on one or two commodities or services
(particularly tourism) for economic welfare, and
vulnerability to natural disaster – require reforms
that are particularly context-sensitive. Countries in
such groups can learn from one another’s successes
and failures in stimulating e-commerce to date and
in the future.
As the shift to the digital economy has accentuated,
greater efforts are needed in three critical areas
in order to leverage the potential benefits of
e-commerce for development:
• Governments and their international
development partners need to work together
to address concerns regarding national digital
readiness in order to enable local businesses
to participate effectively in the evolving
economic landscape and avoid falling further
behind competitors from countries where
these opportunities are being more thoroughly
addressed.
134 A GLOBAL REVIEW
• Businesses in developing countries need to
become better equipped to participate in the
digital economy, a transition that requires more
rapid digitalization of MSMEs, more attention to
digital entrepreneurship (including reskilling),
improved capabilities to harness data and
platforms; and stronger regulatory frameworks
to promote the creation and capture of value in
the digital economy.
• International actors – including development
partners, United Nations agencies and
Regional Commissions, regional economic
communities, organizations concerned with
digital development and cybersecurity – need to
work together with governments and the private
sector to leverage opportunities and minimize
the risk of countries falling by the wayside.
Together, these goals require a shift in the mindset
underpinning policy development and business
planning in the digital economy from usage and
consumption to innovation and production. ITC has
emphasized that this new mindset must be forward-
looking if it is to turn the lessons of the COVID-19
crisis into opportunities for future development.454 As
well as maximizing the potential that can be derived
from digitalization, it must be resilient, inclusive and
sustainable:
• enabling the survival and maintaining the
potential of fledgling businesses and supporting
the needs of hard-pressed consumers in good
times and in bad;
• fully involving women and men, merchants and
consumers, rich and poor, the powerful and the
disempowered; and
• capable of enabling sustainable development,
and achieving the SDGs, in an age of
environmental risk and rapid technological
development.
International cooperation is crucial to achieving this, • Partnership between governments in Regional
at many levels: Economic Communities (RECs) to foster regional
trade agreements, shared arrangements for
• Cooperation in the WTO, UNCTAD, ITC and other
digital trade facilitation and border management,
organizations concerned with the framework for
that will expedite traffic and lower costs.
international trade and trade facilitation.
• Cooperation between governments
• Cooperative development, involving
in neighbouring countries on bilateral
governments and business, in the establishment
arrangements for e-commerce, including the
of effective, harmonized and interoperable
adoption of common trade facilitation measures
standards for trade, e-commerce, digital
such as those proposed by the WTO’s Trade
payments and other aspects of the digital
Facilitation Agreement, UN/CEFACT, UPU and
economy, building on the models designed by
other international agencies.
WTO, UN/CEFACT, UPU and other agencies.
• Increased attention to the digital economy and
• Collaborative attention, again involving
the potential for e-commerce, and increased
governments and businesses, to address
resources for these, from international donor
threats to cybersecurity that undermine the
agencies.
trust and confidence needed for merchants
and consumers to gain maximum value from
e-commerce.

eTrade for all 135

 NOTES
443 See: Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities, 2020.

444 UNCTAD, 2019b.

445 ECLAC, 2021.

446 See: https://etradeforall.org/about/the-etrade-for-all-platform/.

447 UNCTAD, 2019h.

448 UN SG, 2019b.

449 Ibid.

450 Ssemuwemba, 2020.

451 See: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/intlcoop/partnership/default.aspx.

452 See: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/tdb_ede2019_WorkingGroupToRs_en.pdf.

453 UNCTAD, 2020p.

454 ITC, 2020a.

136 A GLOBAL REVIEW

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 ISBN 978-92-1-113013-3

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